The Southwest Center has received funding from the Washington University Medical Center of St. Louis via the Missouri Botanical Garden to expand research on the cultivation of important medicinal plants. With these funds, a collaboration was initiated this summer between the Southwest Center and the Shaw Nature Reserve of the Missouri Botanical Garden to study several species of medicinal plants known collectively as "Anti-Tumor B" or "ACAPHA", an acronym for "Anti-Cancer Preventative Health Agent". This combination of six herbs has been used in China for centuries in disease prevention, and in the last few decades specifically to prevent and treat lung cancer. Studies in China have shown that ACAPHA can reduce the risk of lung cancer by 40 to 50%, while Canadian studies also yielded dramatic results in eliminating pre-cancerous lung lesions in current and former tobacco smokers. ACAPHA appears to have few side effects when consumed by humans. Private foundations and now the U.S. National Cancer Institute have provided major funding to the Canadian researchers to establish extensive human clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of this herbal mixture in preventing and treating lung cancer.

At the Southwest Center this summer, we initiated cultivation trials of several of the six herbs that constitute ACAPHA. Some of these species are considered "weeds", others are herbaceous perennials, while still others are trees. This is a pilot study that will allow us to become familiar with these plants, to begin understanding their requirements for successful cultivation, and to determine if some or all of these species may be successfully grown in the Midwest. If this safe herbal treatment for lung cancer continues to prove itself, we also hope that our studies will pave the way for Missouri farmers to step up and meet the inevitable demand for the raw plant materials needed to create this fascinating herbal mixture.