Curcumin is an extract of the herb Turmeric, and is a powerful antioxidant with a wide range of biological effects. Scientific studies have shown that curcumin is an effective anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-viral agent. It has also been shown to lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels. One of the most promising benefits of curcumin, however, is as an anti-cancer agent. Several in vitro studies have demonstrated curcumin’s ability to inhibit tumor growth. A recent study examining the effects of curcumin in people with pancreatic cancer provides further support for curcumin’s potential role in the fight against cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal types of cancers and currently approved treatments for it prove beneficial in less than 10% of patients. For this reason, finding alternative strategies for treating this form of cancer is very important. Previous studies have shown that curcumin is able to inhibit a certain transcription factor, NF-KB, which is active in patients with pancreatic cancer. This transcription factor plays a role in tumor growth, invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis. However, curcumin has poor bioavailability, and its ability to fight cancer in humans remains to be determined. A recent study examined whether oral doses of 8g of curcumin per day, for 8 weeks, would have any effect on pancreatic tumours in 21 individuals. The results, although preliminary, are promising. The 8g per day dose was not found to have any toxic effects, and produced detectable (although low) levels of curcumin in the blood. Furthermore, two of the patients examined showed a positive response to the treatment. One patient remained stable, with no change in tumor progression, throughout the 8 week period and remains stable more than 18 months later following continued intake of curcumin. Another patient showed a dramatic reduction in tumor size that lasted one month. Following this tumor growth progressed, but the lesions that had originally regressed remained small.
The mechanism by which curcumin is able to affect tumor growth is likely through the suppression of transcription factors like , NF-KB, and other growth regulatory molecules. Intake of curcumin was found to reduce blood levels of NF-KB and other key factors in the patients examined, although only to a small extent. Future studies look to overcome the bioavailability issue by administration of curcumin by I.V. in the form of an encapsulated liposome. This will allow its full potential as an anti-cancer agent to be determined.
Dhillon N, Aggarwal BB, Newman RA, Wolff RA, Kunnumakkara AB, Abbruzzese JL, Ng CS, Badmaev V, Kurzrock R. Phase II Trial of Curcumin in Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, 2008; 14(14): 4491-4499.
For more information, see Curcumin-95.
|
