Breast cancer's most haunting quality is not its initial arrival but its capacity to return — a possibility rooted, researchers now believe, in a small population of treatment-resistant cells that can quietly rebuild what medicine worked to destroy. At the University of Kansas Medical Center, scientist Qi Chen and her team, supported by the Beljanski Foundation, are investigating whether botanical extracts might be capable of targeting these so-called cancer stem cells, the seeds from which recurrence grows. Mouse studies of triple-negative breast cancer have yielded results striking enough to
Foundation-Funded Research Targets Breast Cancer Stem Cells With Botanical Extracts
Promising laboratory results are not the same as proving something treats cancer in people.
Mark
So these cancer stem cells—are they the reason breast cancer comes back?
Mimi
They're thought to be a major reason, yes. They're a small subset of cells in a tumor that can both reproduce themselves and generate new tumor cells. They're more resistant to treatment than regular cancer cells, so if they survive chemotherapy or radiation, they can potentially rebuild the whole tumor.
Luke
But we should be clear: this is a hypothesis that's still being tested. The evidence is suggestive, not conclusive.
Mark
And the botanical extracts—the study showed they stopped metastasis in mice. That sounds like a cure.
Mimi
In this specific mouse model, yes. But the mice had compromised immune systems, and the tumors were inoculated rather than naturally occurring. Those are significant differences from how cancer develops in humans.
Luke
Right. And Chen herself says the results need further validation and clinical trials. The 30 percent versus zero percent number is striking, but it's not evidence that these botanicals will work the same way in people.
Mark
So what's the actual next step?
Mimi
The manuscript is under peer review at a high-impact journal. If it's published, that opens the door to designing human clinical trials. But that's years away.
Luke
And even then, clinical trials would test whether these botanicals work as treatments. Right now, the foundation is being careful to say they're investigating complementary approaches, not replacements for surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation.
Mark
Why does that distinction matter?
Mimi
Because people who are desperate can hear "promising results" and think "cure." Chen and Beljanski are trying to prevent that leap.
Luke
It's also why the foundation is moving carefully through different cancer types. They're building evidence methodically, not making claims ahead of the science.
The Pulse
- Cancer stem cells — a small, stubborn subset of tumor cells resistant to chemotherapy and radiation — can survive treatment and regenerate entire tumors, making them the hidden engine of recurrence that haunts survivors long after their treatment ends.
- In mouse models of triple-negative breast cancer, treated animals developed zero metastatic lesions compared to 30 percent in untreated controls, a gap striking enough to draw serious scientific attention.
- The experimental conditions — immunocompromised mice, inoculated rather than naturally occurring tumors — mean the results cannot be directly mapped onto human biology, and Chen is deliberate in saying so.
- The botanical extracts under study — pao pereira, Rauwolfia vomitoria, a green tea extract, and Ginkgo biloba — may work through different mechanisms, from killing stem cells outright to nudging them toward differentiation, making them vulnerable to conventional therapies.
- The research team has submitted findings to a peer-reviewed journal, and the Beljanski Foundation is already turning its funding toward the next frontier: cancer stem cells in prostate cancer.
Breast cancer's most haunting quality is not its initial arrival but its capacity to return — a possibility rooted, researchers now believe, in a small population of treatment-resistant cells that can quietly rebuild what medicine worked to destroy. At the University of Kansas Medical Center, scientist Qi Chen and her team, supported by the Beljanski Foundation, are investigating whether botanical extracts might be capable of targeting these so-called cancer stem cells, the seeds from which recurrence grows. Mouse studies of triple-negative breast cancer have yielded results striking enough to demand further inquiry, even as Chen herself insists that the distance between a promising laboratory finding and a proven human treatment remains vast and must be crossed with care.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women after skin cancer, and even as treatments have improved, the fear of recurrence has never fully receded. That fear has a biological basis: cancer stem cells, a small population within tumors that can resist chemotherapy and radiation and, if they survive, rebuild the tumor entirely. Researcher Qi Chen at the University of Kansas Medical Center calls them the seeds of cancer — few in number but disproportionately dangerous.
The Beljanski Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on cancer research, has been funding investigations into whether botanical extracts might target these resilient cells. Building on earlier published work in ovarian and pancreatic cancer stem cells, Chen's team tested four extracts — pao pereira, Rauwolfia vomitoria, a green tea extract, and a Ginkgo biloba golden leaf extract — individually and in combination, in mouse models of triple-negative breast cancer. The outcome was notable: treated mice developed no metastatic lesions, while 30 percent of untreated mice did.
Chen is careful about what those numbers can and cannot mean. The mice had compromised immune systems, and their tumors were inoculated rather than naturally occurring — conditions necessary for the research but meaningfully different from how cancer develops in people. She is clear that these results are encouraging, not conclusive, and that clinical trials would be required before any claim of human benefit could be made. The findings have been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and await publication.
The mechanisms behind the botanicals appear to vary: some may kill cancer stem cells directly, others may push them to differentiate into cells more vulnerable to conventional treatment, and still others may act on the tumor's microenvironment or immune response. Sylvie Beljanski, the foundation's founder, frames the work as complementary rather than competitive with standard care — rigorous investigation into questions conventional medicine has not yet answered. 'We owe patients both hope and scientific rigor,' she says.
With the breast cancer study complete and submitted, the foundation has already shifted its fundraising toward the next question: cancer stem cells in prostate cancer, continuing a methodical progression through some of oncology's most difficult terrain.
Breast cancer treatment ends, but the fear of recurrence often lingers longer than the memory of the treatment itself. For American women, breast cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer after skin cancer, and despite decades of progress in how we treat it, that particular dread—the possibility that cancer will return—has never truly gone away.
At the University of Kansas Medical Center, researcher Qi Chen is working on a problem that sits at the heart of that fear. She and her team are investigating cancer stem cells, a small population of cells within tumors that behave differently from the bulk of cancer tissue. These cells can reproduce themselves and generate new tumor cells. They are often more resistant to chemotherapy and radiation than ordinary cancer cells, and if they survive treatment, they can potentially rebuild the entire tumor. Chen describes them as the seeds of cancer—small in number but disproportionately consequential.
The Beljanski Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on cancer research, has been funding investigations into whether certain botanical extracts might be able to target these resilient cells. The foundation had already supported published studies on pao pereira and Rauwolfia vomitoria in ovarian and pancreatic cancer stem cells. For their breast cancer research, Chen's team tested those two extracts alongside a specific green tea extract and a Ginkgo biloba golden leaf extract, both individually and in various combinations.
The results from mouse models of triple-negative breast cancer were striking enough to warrant careful attention. In untreated mice, about 30 percent developed metastatic lesions—cancer that had spread beyond the original tumor. In the treated mice, none developed metastatic lesions. But Chen is cautious about what that number actually means at this stage. The mice used in the study had compromised immune systems, a necessity for human cancer cells to take hold and form tumors that researchers could study. The tumors themselves were inoculated rather than naturally occurring. These are significant differences from how cancer develops and progresses in human bodies. Chen emphasizes that the results are encouraging but require further validation, and that carefully designed clinical trials would be needed to determine whether similar benefits would occur in people. The team has submitted their findings to a high-impact scientific journal and is awaiting peer review.
The mechanisms by which these botanicals might work appear to vary. Some may kill cancer stem cells outright. Others may push them to differentiate—to mature into more developed cells that respond better to conventional treatments. Still others may work by altering the tumor's microenvironment or modulating the body's broader immune response. If researchers can encourage stem cells to differentiate, Chen suggests, they may become easier to eliminate through standard therapies.
When asked what tends to get lost when laboratory research enters public conversation, Chen is direct: promising results in a lab are not the same as proving that something treats cancer in people. Her team's work provides evidence that these botanical formulations can affect breast cancer stem cells in experimental models, but that evidence should not be interpreted as proof that taking these botanicals or supplements will prevent or treat breast cancer in patients. Sylvie Beljanski, founder and president of the Beljanski Foundation, frames the distinction from the philanthropic perspective. The role of integrative medicine, she argues, is not to replace surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, hormonal therapy, or targeted therapies, but to rigorously investigate complementary approaches that might address questions conventional medicine has not yet answered. "We owe patients both hope and scientific rigor," she says.
The breast cancer study was already fully funded when the foundation held its Hamptons Sweat Fest fundraiser this past summer. That event instead built support for the next phase of research: investigating cancer stem cells in prostate cancer. The foundation has already moved this work through ovarian cancer to pancreatic cancer to breast cancer. Now, with the scientific question framed and previous research as a foundation, the organization is seeking funding for the study that might provide answers in prostate cancer.
Notable Quotes
You can think of them as the 'seeds' of a tumor. They are often more resistant to chemotherapy and other treatments than the bulk of cancer cells.— Qi Chen, University of Kansas Medical Center
We owe patients both hope and scientific rigor.— Sylvie Beljanski, founder and president of the Beljanski Foundation
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