Although researchers have considered the possibility that the bark of the White Birch tree might contain a compound, known as betulinol, with the ability to fight prostate cancer, until recently there was no way to test it because they did not know how to make the compound water-soluble.

Now that Weill Medical College of Cornell University researchers have solved that problem, laboratory tests on mice are showing it is indeed effective in killing prostate cancer cells.

"Years of research appear to have paid off, and now animal tests on this potential anti-cancer agent can finally proceed. Already, in mouse studies, we've found that our water-soluble compound - called Boc-lysinated-betulonic acid -- has achieved up to 92 percent inhibition of prostate tumor growth compared to controls," states lead researcher Dr. Brij Saxena.

While the study into the cancer-fighting properties of the White Birch tree might be new, the White Birch tree has a history of medicinal uses. According to the Living Memorials Project website White Birch tree information page, Native American Indians used the leaves and bark of the tree as a tea to treat fevers, stomach upset, and rheumatism. The bark was boiled to make poultices for minor wounds, and an oil made from the bark to treat bladder infections, rheumatism, gout and nerve pain. In Europe, the leaves were used to treat skin rashes, hair loss, rheumatic complaints, and to purify the blood. Birch tar oil was used to treat chronic skin diseases.

The Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases of United States Department of Agriculture includes information on betulin and betulinic acid as showing that it inhibits cancer, and the compound is also known to be anticarcinomic; anti-flu; anti-inflammatory; antiviral; and a prostaglandin-synthesis-inhibitor.

In the 1800's, John Hoxsey watched a horse recover from cancer after feeding in a field of wild plants and grasses. Hoxsey collected the field plants and formulated an herbal tonic remedy to treat animals suffering various illnesses. For generations the formula for the herbal tonic was kept a Hoxsey family secret, until John Hoxsey's great-grandson Harry Hoxsey, an Illinois coal miner, marketed the herbal tonic as a cancer remedy for humans and promoted himself as a self-taught herbal healer.

Home remedies, passed down from one generation to the next generation and applied without any scientific understanding or testing behind why it may or may not be effective, is called folk medicine. Folk medicine can not be discredited simply because it has not undergone any scientific study, but when it comes to curing cancer, folk medicine can become a life-threatening practice if it delays more scientifically proven cancer treatments. Integrative medicine, an emerging field of cancer treatment, incorporates both traditional folk medicine with modern scientifically proven cancer therapies, and I believe this is a holistic approach that may have, in certain circumstances, maximum benefit for a cancer patient.

Before you consider trying a cancer treatment based on folk medicine, it is wise to talk it over with your physician, to make sure the interactions of one treatment do not interfere or adversely affect another treatment. According to some folk medicine practitioners, cancer is caused by the human intestinal fluke. If you kill this parasite, the cancer stops. The hulls of black walnuts are recommended as the remedy for killing this internal parasite. According to the American Cancer Society, no scientific evidence is available to suggest that hulls from black walnuts remove parasites from the intestinal tract or that they are effective in treating cancer. However, early evidence from laboratory research does suggest that juglone, a compound in black walnut, may possibly reduce cancer risk. No controlled scientific human studies have been done on the effective benefit of the cancer prevention properties of black walnuts. This does not mean it does not work, it simply means no one has scientific proof it does work.