QCSHS students looking into potential of cassava leaves for breast cancer treatment

Students from Quezon City Science High School (QCSHS) presented their findings on the potential use of cassava leaves as a treatment for breast cancer–initially done to fulfill the requirements for their Grade 9 and Grade 10 research classes–before the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) forum in Chicago on April 29.

The QCSHS students conducted the study, which found that methanolic crude extract from leaves of locally grown cassava could potentially become a "safe, cheap, and less toxic" alternative to combat the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line.

Cancer cell lines, according to the US National Cancer Institute, are ''cancer cells that keep dividing and growing over time under certain conditions in a laboratory'' and are ''used in research to study the biology of cancer and to test cancer treatments.''

The QCSHS students concluded that the average absorbance of extract from the leaves of cassava—a common root crop in the Philippines—is ''not significantly different from those of established treatments,'' particularly chemotherapy drugs Vinblastine and 5-Fluorouracil.

''We discovered that it took 4.6 times more extract to kill normal cells than breast cancer cells. So, that means that although our extract is crude, meaning not really purified, it can somehow discriminate between what cells are healthy and what cells are not,” Emmanuelle Reign Tica, one of the student researchers, told GMA News Online.

Tica, along with her fellow student researchers Gabrielle Ruth Shinyo and Bryce Ethan Cruz, said that the study was conducted in compliance with their science research subject in grades 9 and 10 at QCSHS.

This was inspired by another study that used cassava leaves to fight another human breast cancer cell line called SK-BR-3.

The compounds extracted from the cassava leaves were tested on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line using a different extraction method, making it the first study to demonstrate its efficacy for this kind of cancer cell.

The extract was tested in a laboratory (in vitro) and in a computer (in silico) setting.

“Here in the Philippines, we know that cassava is native here because we are a tropical country. So, aside from looking for cancer treatment, gusto sana namin na natural or organic po siya and also available and accessible to the population if ma-develop po siya as a drug,” Shinyo said.

(Here in the Philippines, we know that cassava is native here because we are a tropical country. So, aside from looking for cancer treatment, we want it to be natural or organic and also available and accessible to the population if it will be developed into a drug.)

Their research paper was approved by a panel of doctors from the National Kidney and Transplant Institute when they were still Grade 9 students.

When they were in Grade 10, the study was conducted with the assistance of a professor from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of the Philippines Manila.

The research, which was originally conducted “for the grades,” was presented at the AACR forum.

Researchers from the Philippines and Taiwan were the only participants who were not from the United States.

The study was also included in the list of finalists for the Rochester Institute of Technology’s 2025 Genius Olympiad.

Only two groups of Filipino students qualified for this year’s Genius Olympiad competition, and they are set to compete in New York from June 9 to 13.

Tica said that their study was somewhat personal to them and that they wanted it to be a tribute to their friends, family, and relatives who are afflicted with breast cancer.

“Hopefully, in the future, this study can be sort of a starting point that could pave the way for a better, safer, and cheaper cancer treatment,” Tica said.

“The study laid the groundwork for other studies to basically jump off of it and take the next step,” Cruz added.

Their research adviser, Genevieve Vasquez, said the total cost of the study, which would not have been possible without their parents' financial support, was P80,000. This excludes the cost of presenting the research to international fora and competitions.

“One of the challenges we faced was the lack of suitable research facilities, of course, as the study is too advanced for the level of Junior High School students. This is where collaboration with higher educational institutions, such as UP, comes in,'' she said.

“Imagine the potential of Filipino students, di ba? Sobrang gagaling ng mga Pinoy talaga. ‘Yun din yung narealize ko through time… if there are more institutions or even the private sector who could fund and support promising studies developed by students, imagine the progress that we could contribute to the science field in the country.''

(Imagine the potential of Filipino students. Filipinos are really good. That's what I realized over time...if there are more institutions or even the private sector who could fund and support promising studies developed by students, imagine the progress that we could contribute to the science field in the country.)

Vasquez added that regular public high schools are also capable of producing quality research.

“In regional science and technology fairs, hindi lang from science high schools ang nananalo," she said.

(Winners of regional science and technology fairs don't only come from science high schools.) — VBL, GMA Integrated News