[Sandy in Silicon Valley]

Hi, Michelle -

I'd say it's not time to start munching those tangerine peels quite yet... you WERE going to eat the PEELS on the tangerines you bought, right?

Here's one link to a description of the research:
<http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/82015.php>

We've been discussing this very topic, hot off the too-little-info, too-much-hype presses, on bcmets.org. I suggested candy-ing the peel, then dipping it in bittersweet chocolate, or making marmalade with it, warming the preserves with some Triple Sec, and pouring it over vanilla icecream. Otherwise, tangerine peel is pretty leathery and bitter...

Then, too, this seems to be petrie dish research - not anything used in even animals, much less humans, as yet! Way too early to know if the key element in the peel, Salvestrol, works inside the human body, once metabolized. Also too early to know if it is toxic, or if it would interact with other drugs, like Tykerb, which patients are told to avoid grapefruit while on the drug - because it prolongs the time the drug remains in one's body!

As I've understood research stats - about 10% of petrie dish research ever makes it to in vivo (in animals) research, then 10% of those in vivo studies make it to human Phase I clinical trials (1% of research begun in petrie dishes) - and even fewer make it out of Phase I and II trials and into Phase III, where those "finalists" often get shot down anyway. So the odds are way against tangerine peels/Salvestrol becoming an FDA approved treatment for cancer.

Not very good odds, so you might want to enjoy the juicy fruit you just bought, without trying to injest the peel!

Sandy in Silicon Valley