Curry Compound Kills Esophageal Cancer Cells
Thursday Oct 29, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- A particular curry compound is found to be able to kill esophageal cancer cells in the laboratory, suggesting that it may be a potent, anticancer agent that can be used to treat the disease.
For the study, researchers at the Cork Cancer Research Center in Ireland treated cultured esophageal cancer cells with curcumin - the yellow pigment found in the spice turmeric.
They found the chemical compounds started to destroy cancer cells within 24 hours. The cancer cells were found to autolyze with curcumin present; the study has been published in The British Journal of Cancer.
Previous studies found curcumin may help prevent and treat colorectal cancer, diabetes, and dementia, among other medical conditions. However, the anticancer potency is not strong enough to qualify the chemical as an anticancer drug.
Sharon McKenna, lead author of the study, said there is a potential for scientists to develop a drug to treat esophageal cancer based on curcumin.
McKenna and colleagues found the way curcumin caused cancer cells to die is different from the way many other chempreventative phytochemicals do, which often cause a poptosis or a process of programmed cell death.
Source:
Br J Cancer. 2009 Nov 3;101(9):1585-95.
O'Sullivan-Coyne G, O'Sullivan GC, O'Donovan TR, Piwocka K, McKenna SL.
Leslie C. Quick Laboratory, Cork Cancer Research Centre, BioSciences Institute, University College Cork and Mercy University Hospital, Cork, Ireland.
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