--- description: A researcher has found that lipids found in avocados can directly attack leukemia stem cells. title: Avocados Provide Clue to Fighting Cancer, New Study Shows image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb670fa51198bd20/698854ae428a9e1888ccdba5/paul-spagnuolo.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Cancer](/tag/cancer/) ## Cancer Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Avocados Provide Clue to Fighting Cancer, New Study Shows ## Video: Are Nuts Healthy for You? [Watch (HLS stream): Are Nuts Healthy for You?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lRGKwUCD.m3u8) (2:05)  _Published 2015-05-15. Are nuts really as healthful as they're cracked up to be? Our healthy skeptic investigates._ by [Jacob Koffler](/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2015 3:35 PM CUT  Imaging/University of Waterloo by [Jacob Koffler](/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2015 3:35 PM CUT Avocados aren’t just [Americans’ favorite fruit](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/28/avocado-consumption-us-super-bowl-sports%5Fn%5F6548100.html "undefined"); they also may contain a key to fighting leukemia. Molecules derived from avocados have been found to target the stem cells of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a [study](http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/75/12/2478.abstract "undefined") published in the journal [_Cancer Research_](http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/ "undefined") on Monday. The lipid found in avocado joins just a handful of drug treatments available that attack leukemia stem cells directly while leaving healthy cells unharmed. AML is an aggressive form of cancer that kills 90% of people over 65 who are diagnosed. Drugs that operate on stem cells are the most effective in treating the disease. “The stem cell is really the cell that drives the disease,” said Professor Paul Spagnuolo, a researcher from the University of Waterloo responsible for the study, in a statement about the paper. “The stem cell is largely responsible for the disease developing and it’s the reason why so many patients with leukemia relapse.” While the drug is still years away from being approved for market use, Spagnuolo is already preparing it for a Phase I clinical trial. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3922680/avocados-cancer-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3922680/avocados-cancer-study/"},"headline":"Avocados Provide Clue to Fighting Cancer, New Study Shows","datePublished":"2015-06-16T15:35:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:14:50.861Z","description":"Molecules derived from avocados target the stem cells of acute myeloid leukemia (AML)","url":"https://time.com/3922680/avocados-cancer-study/","keywords":["Cancer","avocado"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb670fa51198bd20/698854ae428a9e1888ccdba5/paul-spagnuolo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jacob Koffler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb670fa51198bd20/698854ae428a9e1888ccdba5/paul-spagnuolo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"paul spagnuolo","caption":"paul spagnuolo","creditText":"Imaging/University of Waterloo","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cancer/","name":"Cancer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3922680/avocados-cancer-study/","name":"Avocados Provide Clue to Fighting Cancer, New Study Shows"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Are Nuts Healthy for You?","description":"Are nuts really as healthful as they're cracked up to be? Our healthy skeptic investigates.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lRGKwUCD/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-05-15T21:16:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lRGKwUCD.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3922680/avocados-cancer-study/","duration":"PT2M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3922680/avocados-cancer-study/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```