BANANAS : A TREATMENT PROTOCOL TO CURE SKIN CANCER.

When bananas ripen, their skin is covered in small, round black spots caused by an enzyme known as tyrosinase. This same enzyme is present in human skin, and in greater quantities in people suffering from melanoma — a potentially deadly form of skin cancer. The black spots on old banana peels may unlock a faster, easier diagnosis of human skin cancer and boosting survival chances.A team of scientists used this observed commonality to build a cancer scanner, which they then refined and tested at length on banana peels before moving on to human tissue. First, researchers at the Laboratory of Physical and Analytical Electro chemistry in Switzerland concluded that the enzyme is a reliable marker of melanoma growth. They observed that In the earliest stage 1 of cancer, the enzyme is not very apparent, becoming widespread and evenly distributed in stage 2, and unevenly distributed in stage 3 — at which time the cancer has started spreading to other parts of the body. When cancer is detected early , there is a greater chance of survival. According to the American Cancer Society, people have a 10-year survival rate of 95 percent if the melanoma is detected in stage 1 — falling to 43 percent by mid-stage 3.The team developed a scanner and tested it on banana peel spots — which are roughly the same size as melanoma spots on human skin.By working with fruit, they were able to develop and test a diagnostic method before trying it on human biopsies. The scanner has eight flexible microelectrodes, spaced like comb teeth, that pass over the skin to measure the quantity and distribution of tyrosinase. This system could obviate the need for invasive tests like biopsies,thus reducing costs and stress related to diagnosis. The study shows the scanner could be used one day to destroy tumors and hopefully rendering biopsies and chemotherapy unnecessary. Excerpts from research published in the German science journal Angewandte Chemie.