Laboratory tests by researchers in the US and Japan have found that papaya prevents the spread of cancer.
University of Florida scientist Dr Nam Dang and colleagues in Japan noted that extracts from the fruit slowed growth in a range of lab-grown tumours, including from the pancreas, breast, liver and cervix.
According to Dr Dang, one of the most important discoveries was that papaya did not have a toxic impact on healthy cells - a common side effect of many cancer treatments.
"Based on what I have seen and heard in a clinical setting, nobody who takes this extract experiences demonstrable toxicity; it seems like you could take it for a long time," he remarked.
Lab equipment was used to expose ten types of cancer cell cultures to four differing strengths of papaya leaf extract over a period of 24 hours, with tumour growth prevented in all of them.
It follows the recent discovery of a link between the illness and vitamin D, with Henry Ford Hospital researchers finding that higher levels of the nutrient's enzymes and proteins were revealed in diseased cells.
