In a surprising turn of events, scientists in Queensland, Australia have found a miraculous berry that contains a compound that has been found to kill head and neck tumors as well as melanoma. The berry can only grow on Blushwood trees in the far north region of Queensland. As Dr. Glen Boyle, one of the scientists researching the berry, said, “The tree is very, very picky on where it will grow.” So far, the drug that has been synthesized from the compound, which has been named EBC-46, has been tested on over 300 different animals, which include cats and dogs as well as horses. Dr. Boyle has claimed that in over 75% of the cases, the tumors that had been affected disappeared and had not came back.

Unsurprisingly, the scientists are confused by the origin of the compound, “There’s a compound in the seed – it’s a very, very complicated process to purify this compound, and why it’s there in the first place, we don’t know.” As Dr. Boyle explains, “The compound works by three ways essentially: it kills the tumor cells directly, it cuts off the blood supply, and it also activates the body’s own immune system to clean up the mess that’s left behind.” Amazingly, there were no side effects, but what really amazed the scientists is how quickly the drug took functioned. The drug took effect within five minutes and the affected tumors disappeared within days. Dr. Boyle commented on the swiftness of the compound, “The surprising thing for us, and the thing that we don’t see very often, is the speed with which this occurs.”

The amazing thing about this drug is how swiftly and effectively it removes a tumor. Dr. Boyle elaborates, “Usually when you treat a tumor it takes several weeks to resolve, but this is very, very rapid.” Dr. Boyle explains the process, “There’s a purpling of the area, of the tumor itself, and you see that within five minutes, and you come back the next day and the tumor is black, and you come back a few days later and the tumor has fallen off.”

Unfortunately, it is not yet know if the berry can be grown anywhere else other than north Queensland. Thankfully, the findings of the pre-clinical trials suggested that the drug could be effective in patients. However, Dr. Boyle stressed that the drug, if it works on humans, could only be used on tumors that can be accessed with direct injection and is not effective against metastatic cancers. He also stressed that it would only be an additional treatment process, rather than a total replacement for chemotherapy or surgery. Dr. Boyle elaborated, “Elderly patients for example, who just can’t go through another general anesthetic for example, this could be used to treat these sorts of tumors and hopefully improve the quality of life for these people.”

FSA Connection Questions

1. In the article, the author seems to offer what main idea?
2. Select the best two sentences from the story that supports the idea of the drug only being an alternate treatment.
3. Select one sentence that best summarizes the work.
4. In the piece, the word synthesized means what?
5. What is the connotation of the word alternative in the story?