New research suggests that avocados are not just rich, creamy and nutritious, they can also fight cancer.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo found a in avocados that combats acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by targeting the root of the disease -- leukemia stem cells. Worldwide, there are few drug treatments available to patients that target leukemia stem cells.

AML is a type of leukemia that proves fatal within five years for 90 percents of older adults who are older than 65 years old.

"The stem cell is really the cell that drives the disease," Professor Paul Spagnuolo said in a statement. "The stem cell is largely responsible for the disease developing and it's the reason why so many patients with leukemia relapse. We've performed many rounds of testing to determine how this new drug works at a molecular level and confirmed that it targets stem cells selectively, leaving healthy cells unharmed."

Spagnuolo believes his new avocado-derived drug could one day increase the life expectancy and quality of life for AML patients.

"It's an exciting time for our lab .. we are now pursuing commercial partnership that would take avocatin B into clinical trials," Spagnuolo said. "Not only does avocatin B eliminate the source of AML, but its targeted, selective effects make it less toxic to the body, too."

The drug is still years away from becoming approved for use in oncology clinics, but Spagnuolo is already performing experiments to prepare the drug for a Phase I clinical trial. This is the first round of trials where people diagnosed with AML could have access to the drug.

The findings are detailed in the journal Cancer Research.