British eight-year-old helps scientist parents find cancer cure

A British eight-year-old helped inspire new research into treating cancer using antibiotics by suggesting that to her parents who are cancer research scientists.

While having dinner with her parents, Camilla Lisanti unknowingly suggested antibiotics to treat cancerous cells, just like any minor illness, the Daily Mail reported.

Camilla’s parents, Michael Lisanti and his wife Federica Sotgia, are both part of a cancer research team at Manchester University.

When asked by her father how she can cure cancer, Camilla answered: “Like when I have a sore throat,” according to the Daily Mail.

The parents tested Camilla’s theory at their lab and noted that several cheap and commonly used antibiotics affected the cancerous cells, the newspaper added.

Professor Lisanti praised his daughter’s suggestion and predicted that antibiotics could become an inexpensive tool to treat cancer.

“She has heard us talk about cancer a lot and we thought it would be fun to ask her what she thought about cancer therapy,” he told the Daily Mail.

“I thought it was very naïve to think you could cure cancer with antibiotics but at the end of the day Camilla was right.

“She usually is right about things. She always has a snappy answer that makes sense,” he said of his daughter.

Their findings showed that four common low-cost antibiotics have managed to kill cancerous cells in samples from “breast, prostate, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, skin and brain tumors,” reported the Independent.