laetrile

American  

[ley-i-tril] / ˈleɪ ɪ trɪl /

noun

1. a controversial drug, purported to cure cancer, prepared from the pits of apricots or peaches and containing about 6 percent cyanide by weight: banned by the FDA.

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laetrile British  

/ ˈleɪəˌtraɪl /

noun

1. an extract of peach stones, containing amygdalin, sold as a cure for cancer but judged useless and possibly dangerous by medical scientists

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Etymology

Origin of laetrile

1950–55; said to be a contraction of l-mandelonitrile, equivalent to l- + German Mandel almond + -o- + nitrile

Example Sentences

Over the years, the state Business and Professions Code has been updated to explicitly bar physicians from breaking laws related to human cloning and to the long-discredited cancer treatments laetrile and amygdalin.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 6, 2022

The Greens were determined to enroll Chad in a Tijuana clinic where he could receive laetrile, the controversial drug scorned by the medical establishment but touted by some cancer patients as a miracle worker.

From Time Magazine Archive

And then in 1980, a dying and seemingly desperate Steve McQueen rode off into the sunset in Mexico while seeking laetrile treatments to cure his lung cancer.

From Time Magazine Archive