Dandelion root extract (DRE) induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) in over 95% of colon cancer cells within 48 hours

A study by researchers from the University of Windsor and the University of Ottawa, published in Oncotarget, found that dandelion root extract (DRE) induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) in over 95% of colon cancer cells within 48 hours in lab (in vitro) experiments. The extract was effective against both p53-positive and p53-negative colon cancer cell lines (HT‑29 and HCT116). In mouse models (in vivo), oral DRE significantly slowed tumor growth by over 90%. The mechanism involved activation of both intrinsic (mitochondrial) and extrinsic (caspase-8) apoptosis pathways, increased reactive oxygen species, and disruption of mitochondrial integrity. Key phytochemicals included α‑amyrin, β‑amyrin, lupeol, and taraxasterol. However, these results are preliminary, limited to lab and animal studies, and have not yet been confirmed in human clinical trials. Dandelion root is not an approved treatment for cancer, and medical consultation is essential before considering its use.

Referring to a 2016 study from researchers at the University of Windsor and the University of Ottawa, published in Oncotarget, which explored the effects of dandelion root extract (DRE) on colorectal cancer (oncotarget.com).


🧪 What the study found:

  • In vitro (in lab dishes): DRE selectively induced programmed cell death in over 95% of colon cancer cells within 48 hours—regardless of their p53 status.
  • In vivo (in living organisms): When taken orally, DRE reduced the growth of human colon tumor xenografts by more than 90% (oncotarget.com).

🧬 What’s in the extract?

They identified several bioactive compounds—like α‑amyrin, β‑amyrin, lupeol, and taraxasterol—but found the whole extract worked more effectively, suggesting a combination effect (oncotarget.com).


🧟‍♂️ Is the science enough?

  • These results are promising, but limited to pre-clinical tests.
  • Some early-stage phase I trials in Canada looked at safety in patients with limited options (worldteanews.com).

🧠 What Reddit users say:

“Many things shrink cancer cells in vitro… Most of these ‘X kills cancer’ things require concentrations that would be unhealthy to attempt to flood the body with… That’s why we get so many Cancer cure articles that never go anywhere.”
(reddit.com)

This echoes the caution that lab success doesn’t always translate into real-world results.


✅ Summary:

Fact Details
Lab success Strong anti-cancer effects against colon cancer in preclinical studies
Active compounds Multiple, with synergistic effect
Human trials? Early-stage trials in Canada, but no large-scale results yet
Be cautious Preclinical data is promising, but not conclusive for treatment

💡 Bottom line:

Dandelion root extract shows real potential in the lab, but it’s not yet a proven cancer cure. For now, it’s best viewed as an emerging area of research, not a replacement for standard medical treatment. If you’re interested, keeping an eye on future clinical results is a good idea.

 

What Happens After 30 Days of Cold Showers

Learn exactly how to setup your cold showers to reap 6 AMAZING benefits that’ll improve your life, mindset, and body. You’ll find out how to work up to taking a cold shower every morning, and how to slowly lower the temperature over time. Cold therapy (ice baths, cold plunges, cold showers) has been used by people like Wim Hoff to develop seemingly superhuman abilities. Discover why you should stop taking hot showers immediately and switch them for cold ones. 🔥 FREE 6 Week Shred: http://bit.ly/2Bv8CL4 📲 FREE Diet/Workout Planner Tool: http://bit.ly/2N41lTX Taking a cold shower can feel very uncomfortable, give you goosebumps, and make your whole body feel freezing. However cold showers and cold therapy, in general, can help you feel more alert and energized, it can improve your health, and can even help you burn fat. These are just some of the benefits that you can use to justify going through the unpleasantness of using cold emersion as a therapeutic agent. (*) And really there are 6 amazing scientifically proven benefits when cold therapy is used correctly and I want you to understand what those are and how to start using the cold to reap those benefits today  Now the first thing that most people don’t realize is that cold therapy can drastically improve your mood, and your mental health to the point that it may help prevent and even treat depression. (1) One of the ways that cold exposure is able to improve your mental state is thanks to norepinephrine. When you’re body is exposed to cold temperatures norepinephrine is rapidly released into the bloodstream. This is a neurotransmitter that’s associated with things like vigilance, attention, focus, and mood. And this isn’t debatable, the fact that cold exposure can increase norepinephrine is shown in multiple studies, both in mice and humans. (2) Interestingly, when norepinephrine is depleted in a person, that person becomes depressed, and we actually see this in a study published in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. (3) That’s why ice plunges and cold showers might help prevent and treat depression. Cold therapy drastically increases norepinephrine levels, which, helps support a better mood and cognitive function. Now of course the question is how cold should the temperature be to get the benefits of a boost in norepinephrine? Well, one study found that one hour of cold water immersion at a relatively regular temperature of 68° Fahrenheit did not activate norepinephrine release, meanwhile, one hour at 57° Fahrenheit increased norepinephrine levels by a whopping 530%. (4) of course one hour sounds painfully long, but fortunately, you can get similar benefits in a shorter time frame if you turn the temperature down further. And we have evidence of this. A long-term study found that by immersing yourself in cold water at 40° Fahrenheit for only 20 seconds and sticking to that routine consistently for twelve weeks, that can increase norepinephrine levels by 200 to 300%. (5) And it could be possible that taking an ice bath in freezing cold water, would require even less time to reap the benefits. Now you don’t want to go straight to freezing cold water, you do want to work up to it, and I’ll go over that process in a bit But first, you should be aware that one of the best benefits of exposing your body to the cold is that it leads to a reduction in overall inflammation throughout your body. Now you’ve probably heard that inflammation is the route cause of most modern diseases. And even though inflammation gets a pretty bad wrap, inflammation itself isn’t entirely a bad thing. In fact, it’s vital for your health and well-being because it’s the first step of the healing process that’s used to prevent further damage by eliminating the initial cause of the cell injury, and then the inflammation helps clears out the damaged tissues and dead cells. This is actually what starts the process of repairing damaged tissues. However, when the inflammation process goes into overdrive, so when you have chronically high inflammation markers for seemingly no reason, that’s when inflammation causes a lot of trouble for a lot of people. For example, as stated by the Harvard Medical School, “chronic inflammation is associated with heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.” (6) Research also identifies inflammation as the key driver of the aging process. (7) One specific study looked closely at elderly people ranging from 85 to over 110 years old and researchers found that low inflammation was the only biomarker that accurately predicted survival and cognitive capabilities across all the age groups. Remember that cognitive decline is what leads to the rising rates of dementia and Alzheimer’s that we see today. The researchers also came to the conclusion that Inflammation is one of the most important variables that determine mortality, capability, and cognition up to very old age.”