Apricot kernels, especially the bitter ones contain a chemical known as amygdalin. It has the potential to convert into cyanide inside our body. This chemical has been patented and termed Laetrile and is the purified version of amygdalin. Laetrile is given intravenously since consuming it orally can cause many side effects. After decades of research, mostly done on animals and cells, it was proposed that cancer cells are more susceptible to the toxic effects of Laetrile than normal cells.
In 1982 a study was conducted on many cancer patients and oral and iv doses of laetrile were given to them. Most of them showed no improvement and developed high cyanide levels in blood. A study conducted in 2006 on prostate cancer patients was better than the 1982 study.Only a few patients with prostate cancer showed mild improvement.
Because of these different results, the medical personnels still are yet agree on Laetrile’s efficiency as an anticancer treatment.
