salix/leukemia

We describe a case in which a patient immunocompromised by acute myeloid leukemia experienced acute fulminating invasive fungal sinusitis followed by pneumonia and then death. Though the microbiology of the pneumonia could not be directly investigated, nasal lesions revealed fungal mycelium. Valsa

The young developing leaves of willow (Salix safsaf, Salicaceae) trees have antileukemic activity. After a 24-h incubation in vitro, the crude water extracts of the leaves killed a majority of the blasts of acute myeloid leukemia (AML, 73.8%).

Many higher plants contain novel metabolites with antimicrobial, antifungal and antiviral properties. However, in the developed world almost all clinically used chemotherapeutics have been produced by in vitro chemical synthesis. Exceptions, like taxol and vincristine, were structurally complex