Bladder cancer is twice as common in males as it is in females. In the United States, bladder cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in men, while it is the seventh most common cause of death amongst males in the UK. Frankincense oil that originates from Africa, India, and the Middle East, has been found to have many medicinal benefits. Currently, an enriched extract of the Somalian Frankincense herb Boswellia carteri has been shown to kill off bladder cancer cells. Research presented in the open access journal, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, reports that this herb has the potential for an alternative therapy for bladder cancer. The researchers had investigated the effects of the oil in two different types of cells in culture: human bladder cancer cells and normal bladder cells. And they found that frankincense oil is able to discriminate between normal and cancerous bladder cells in culture, and specifically kill cancer cells.