Turmeric Inhibits colon Cancer

Indian Spice Turmeric Inhibits Cancer Hormones

Curcumin, the main ingredient in the spice turmeric, has been used for centuries in Indian traditional medicine and curry, and has been shown to be an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Now a laboratory study suggests it could become a colon cancer preventive or treatment. The study looked at the effects of curcumin on cell activity and found it interferes with neurotensin, a gastrointestinal hormone suspected of setting off the cancer process in colon cells.

University of Texas researchers treated some human colorectal cancer cells with neurotensin, with and without curcumin. They confirmed that neurotensin started a chain reaction of chemicals that can increase the growth of cancer and also the migration of cancer cells and that curcumin blocked the process.

Curcumin appears to do this by blocking the biochemical signals sent by neurotensin that contribute to colon cancer cell growth and migration (the spread of cancer to other body sites). The cell studies need to be followed up by clinical studies in humans, the researchers say. Curcumin may have the potential to both treat and prevent colon cancer and other cancers.

This study was reported in the journal, Clinical Cancer Research (Volume 12, page 5346. Johns Hopkins Health Alert 8/20/2007