(A) Typically used as cheap cooking oil, palm oil has a pretty bad reputation. (61) , by the time the palm oil is processed, much of its nutritional value is destroyed. And the fact that it can (62) at room temperature makes it even look extra artery clogging. But preliminary research suggests that the form of vitamin E packed into the oil-palm fruit, tocotrienol, could help fight cancer and prevent strokes. Numerous test-tube studies done over the past two decades in the U.S., Canada and Malaysia show tocotrienols are “very effective” in killing cancer cells. Nascent though the studies may be, the promise of tocotrienols in the fight against cancer is gathering force worldwide. Now researchers worldwide are moving beyond the test tubes in labs, and are (63) the critical next step: human clinical trials on cancer patients. For example, ongoing human clinical trials are being conducted by Southeast Asian outfits like Davos Life and by scientists at Ohio State University (on stroke prevention). (64) the results of these trials are—analysts and researchers caution that it may take years to achieve a decisive breakthrough—the much derided nutritional image of palm oil is certain to improve.