Turmeric and Cancer

Most cancer treatments available today have a lot of harmful side effects. Chemotherapy, which is currently the most commonly used treatment for cancer, involves chemotherapeutic agents that harm not only tumor cells, but also normal cells. These agents cause major side effects including deafness, infertility, and permanent organ damage. To add to that, this procedure, along with other mainstream cancer treatments, cannot be used for prevention against cancer.

Curcumin, which is a component of turmeric (curcuma longa), has proven to be a great cancer-fighting substance. Based on research, its anti-cancer properties may help prevent or treat some types of cancer like prostate, breast, skin, and colon cancer. It is not only safer, it is also a lot more inexpensive than usual hospital treatments like chemotherapy.

Some studies have shown curcumin to help trigger cancer cell death or apoptosis. This helps stop mutated cells from invading healthy ones. Also, curcumin has the ability to inhibit the activity of matrix metalloproteinases – the enzyme needed by cancer cells for invading healthy tissue. This prevents cancer from metastasizing or spreading to other organs. Another notable effect of curcumin is its ability to stop cancer cells from having additional supply of oxygen, a process called angiogenesis. This is responsible for the rapid spread of cancer cells all over the body, so limiting it will also slow the progression of cancer. Lastly, unlike clinical cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation, curcumin supplements may help protect the body against cancer by increasing the activity of the enzymes in the body that help get rid of potential carcinogens or cancer-causing substances.

Studies Related to Curcumin and Cancer Treatment

Despite the promising results of curcumin treatment in in vitro and animal tests, human tests are still in very early stages. Also most studies done so far are still phase 1 clinical trials. Phase 1 trials are studies involving only a small group of people. These are done to determine the bioavailability, safety, and effectiveness of new kinds of treatments and therapies.

Most clinical studies show that curcumin has very low bioavailability – it does not get absorbed well from the intestine and it is quickly eliminated from the body. Due to this, extremely large doses of curcumin must be taken for even a small amount to reach the blood circulation and get to the tissues and organs that need it.

In a phase 1 clinical study in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, it was observed that doses up to 3.6 g/day did not show major side effects, but the systemic bioavailability of oral curcumin was low (1). This result suggests that taking in 3.6 g of curcumin every day will produce therapeutic levels in the colorectum, but the distribution outside the gut will probably be negligible.

In another study, they gave 3.6 g/day of curcumin to colorectal patients. These patients, did not just have colorectal cancer, they also had liver metastases, which means that their cancer had spread to the liver. The curcumin in this study was administered orally. After 7 days, they found trace levels or small amounts of curcumin metabolites in the liver, but there was no curcumin detected (2).

The results of these studies suggest that because of curcumin’s low bioavailability, taking curcumin orally is more helpful in cancers of the gastrointestinal tract than other tissues. This will be the case until experts figure out a way to make curcumin highly bioavailable.

Curcumin and Colorectal Cancers (colon cancer, rectal cancer and bowel cancer)

Colorectal cancer, which is more commonly called colon cancer, occurs in the colon or rectum. More common terms for the colon are large intestines or large bowel. The rectum connects the colon to the anus. Although colon cancer is more common in people 50 years or older, it has been found to affect men and women in different racial and ethnic groups.

The most common treatment for colorectal cancer available today is FOLFOX chemotherapy protocol. This protocol combines 5-fluorouricil, leukovorin and oxaliplatin. However, many patients cured through this protocol experience recurrence. Some studies suggest that using curcumin with FOLFOX prevents the formation of chemoresistant colon cancer cells (3) and (4). This also helps destroy cancer stem cells.

A study in 2009 (5) showed that the combination of curcumin and resveratrol may be effective for cancer therapy and prevention. These two substances hinder the growth of transformed cells and colon carcinogenesis. The results of this study showed that curcumin and resveratrol combined caused a greater suppression of growth of colon cancer cells in vitro (test tube) than either agent alone.

A Nanjing study in 2001 (6) showed promising results for patients suffering from colorectal cancer. Curcumin did not only help fight cancer, it also improved the general health of patients.  Curcumin administration improved the body weight of patients, decreased TNF-alpha (tumor necrosis factor alpha) levels, increased cancer cell death or apoptosis, and increased expression of p53 molecule (tumor supressor) in cancer tissue.

Curcumin targets cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), a major cell-cycle protein (7) to suppress the growth of colon cancer cells.

Back in 2013, a study (8) showed that citrus limonoids and curcumin have a synergistic effect, which better hinders the growth of human colon cancer cells, and at the same time, induces apoptosis or death of cancer cells.

Curcumin and Prostate Cancer

Males have a special gland called the prostate. It is located in front of the rectum and below the urinary bladder. Although there are many kinds of cells in the prostate, most cancers grow from the gland cells. Gland cells are responsible for producing the prostate fluid which is added to the semen. Adenocarcinoma is the medical term used for cancer that starts in the gland cells.

Aside from adenocarcinoma, some other types of cancers that can be formed in the prostate gland are sarcomas, small cell carcinomas, and transitional cell carcinomas. However, these types of cancer are very rare, so if you are suffering from prostate cancer, it is probably adenocarcinoma.

There are some prostate cancers that develop and spread quickly, but in most cases, they grow slowly. There are even autopsy studies wherein men who died of other diseases were found to have had prostate cancer that never affected them during their lives.

According to some researchers, curcumin may be helpful in preventing breast and prostate cancers, which are both related to inflammation. Curcumin may also lessen their possibility to metastasize or spread to other organs. However, this does not mean that curcumin should be considered a replacement for conventional treatments. This only suggests that curcumin may be useful in preventing the onset of the disease, or stopping full-blown tumors from developing. It may also help stop the cancer cells from metastasizing.

Prostate cancer is commonly connected to chronic inflammatory reactions, and tumor cells produce pro-inflammatory immunomodulators including the cytokines CXCL1 und CXCL2. Immunomodulators are substances that reduce the ability of the immune system to produce antibodies. These may be naturally present in the body, but there are also some that are available from external substances, such as medicines.  In a Munich study (9) they observed the molecular processes that are abnormally regulated in prostate carcinoma cells. In this study, they found out that curcumin reduces the expression of CXCL1 and CXCL2, which in turn, lessens the occurrence of metastasis formation in the lungs.

In a 2013 study in Shanghai (10), they evaluated the effects of curcumin on prostate cancer. They used different types of prostate cancer cells, included an androgen dependent LNCaP prostate cancer cell line and an androgen independent PC-3 prostate cancer cell line. In this study, curcumin induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis or cancer cell death. Larger doses had more significant effects. This study showed that curcumin can potentially help treat both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer.

A Taiwan study showed that curcumin has several effects on prostate cancer. It hinders prostate cancer cell invasion, tumor growth, and metastasis. They found out that this is possible through curcumin’s ability to suppress epidermal growth factor (EGF)- stimulated and heregulin-stimulated PC-3 cell invasion, as well as androgen-induced LNCaP cell invasion. Curcumin treatment also reduced matrix metalloproteinase 9 activity and downregulated cellular matriptase (11).

Breast Cancer and Curcumin

One of the most common forms of cancer in women is breast cancer. This is a malignant tumor that develops from cells in the breast. In most cases, breast cancer starts in the cells of the milk-producing glands called lobules. It may also begin in the ducts or the passages that drain milk from the lobules to the nipple. In less common cases, it begins in the stromal tissues, including the fatty and fibrous connective tissues of the breast.

Studies have been made with regards to chemotherapy and curcumin, but the results are not conclusive.

According to a North Carolina University study (14), curcumin may decrease the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs. Some chemotherapeutic agents used for this study were mechlorethamine, cyclophosphamide, camptothecin, and doxorubicin. These drugs are supposed to induce apoptosis or cancer cell death. However, in that study, curcumin prevented this effect.

Based on the results of this study, breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy may have to avoid using curcumin supplements. Some experts even suggest that they have to limit their intake of foods rich in curcumin.

A separate research at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, however, had a different result. In this study curcumin has shown a positive effect on the results of chemotherapy (12). It prevented breast cancer resistance to chemotherapy and prevented metastasis or the spread of cancer cells to the lungs.

In this study, they evaluated the combined effects of Paclitaxel and curcumin. Paclitaxel (Taxol) is currently used as the primary chemotherapeutic agent in breast cancers. However, it is not useful in treating advanced breast cancer because it often causes drug resistance by activating nuclear factor-nB.

They found that curcumin suppressed the activation of NF-nB, which was caused by Paclixatel. It also stopped the cancer cells from spreading to the lung.

Curcumin and Skin Cancer

Skin cancer is the form of cancer, which is formed in skin tissues. This form of cancer has several types:

• Melanoma

This is the type of skin cancer which forms in melanocytes (skin cells that make pigment).

• Basal Cell Carcinoma

This is the type of skin cancer that forms in the lower part of the epidermis (the outer layer of the skin).

• Squamous Cell Carcinoma

This type of skin cancer forms in the squamous cells (flat cells that form the surface of the skin).

• Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Skin

This type of skin cancer forms in neuroendocrine cells (cells that release hormones in response to signals from the nervous system).

Skin cancer most often develops in older people and in people with weakened immune system.

According to research curcumin may help in the prevention and treatment of skin cancer whether used as a topical cream or taken orally.

For sufferers of squamous cell carcinoma, which is the most common type of skin cancer, curcumin may be used to slow down growth and tumor progression (20).

A Canadian study evaluated a combination therapy of Tamoxifen –an estrogen receptor blocker, and curcumin. In this study, curcumin induced apoptosis or cancer cell death in malignant human melanoma cell lines. Also, unlike in chemotherapy, this combination did not affect non-cancerous cells.