A WILD berry may be the key to battling a form of cancer, according to Southampton scientists.

Researchers from the University of Southampton believe the North American chokeberry may strengthen the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs used to treat pancreatic cancer.

Working with King's College Hospital, scientists combined chokeberry extract with chemotherapy drug gemcitabine to see their effect on pancreatic cancer cells.

Evidence showed that 48 hours of chokeberry extract treatment was successfully killing cancer cells.

Bashir Lwaleed, of the University of Southampton, said: “These are very exciting results. This could change the way we deal with hard to treat cancers in the future.

“The low doses of the extract greatly boosted the effectiveness of gemcitabine, when the two were combined. In addition, we found that lower doses of the conventional drug were needed, suggesting either that the compounds work together synergistically, or that the extract exerts a “supra-additive” effect.”

He added that green tea, soya beans, grapes, mulberries, peanuts and turmeric could also be potential weapons against cancer because of their similar properties.

The researchers chose pancreatic cancer because of its high mortality rate, with less than five per cent of patients surviving for five years after diagnosis.

But similar tests indicate chokeberry extract can also kill brain cancer cells.

Chokeberry, or Aronia melanocarpa, grows on the eastern side of North America in wetlands and swamps and is high in vitamins and antioxidants including polyphenols - which are believed to “mop-up” harmful by-products of normal cell activity.

The study was funded by The Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia and Have a Chance Inc, USA.