Ecballium Elaterium for Gastrointestinal Cancer

Dear EditorI read with great interest the article by Jafargholizadeh et al., (2016) for the possible cytotoxic effects of Ecballium elaterium (L.) A. Richard fruit on gastric cancer cells due to its cucurbitacins. Although this toxicherb has been known since antiquity and was mentioned by ancient writers (as Hippocrates, Theophrastus Pliny,Dioscorides, Avicenna and others), Hippocrates was the first who suggested the administration of Ecballiumelaterium for the management of gastrointestinal cancer. Particularly, in the Book of Εpidemics II, Hippocratesof Kos (c. 460 - c. 370 BC) wrote the following: “Ἀπό γαστρός ταραχῆς ἤ ἀπό βηχός καρκίνου γινομένου, τόστόμα πικραίνεται∙ διδόναι δέ πίνειν ἐλατήριον δίς ἤ τρίς, ἤν μή ψιλός ᾖ” (If you develop cancer after a digestivedisorder or a cough, your mouth becomes bitter. The patient is given elaterium two or three times, unless thepatient is thin) (6,22). The administration of elaterium in this text was probably related to its laxative properties. Itis worth mentioning that the name Ecballium elaterium originates from the Greek words “ἐκβάλλω” (ekvállo)which means discharge and “ἐλατήριον” (elatírion) which means spring, because of a specific characteristic of theseeds of the plant, which are ejected like springs, even by the lightest touch of the surface of the fruit, when it is ripe.