Avocados are not just rich, creamy and nutritious, they can also battle cancer, Medical Daily reported.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo found an ingredient in avocados that combats acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a type a leukemia that proves fatal for older adults, by targeting the root of the disease -- leukemia stem cells.

"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."

However, this discovery does not prove eating avocados will benefit AML patients.

"Patients should not be running out and eating avocados," Spagnuolo told Medical Daily. "What we've done is identify a novel molecule that comes from avocados that has potent toxicity against leukemia and leukemia stem cells."

Although his lab has "not yet performed the necessary studies to validate its effects in humans,"Spagnuolo believes an 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."

A drug for AML is still years away from becoming approved for use in oncology clinics, according to The Washington Post, 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.