Curcumin and Breast Cancer
    Curry Spice May Curb Breast Cancer's Spread
    Curcumin, Found in Turmeric, Shows Promise Against Cancer in Mice

    By Miranda Hitti

    WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MDJune 9, 2005 -- The spice
    turmeric, which is often found in curry powder, contains a chemical that may help stop breast cancer
    from spreading.

    Researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center presented the findings in
    Philadelphia at the U.S. Defense Department's "Era of Hope" Breast Cancer Research Program.


    Common in Indian Cooking
    Turmeric has long been a staple of Indian cooking and traditional medicine. It's also getting attention
    from researchers in Western medicine.

    Curcumin, an antioxidant that gives turmeric its yellow color, is on the National Cancer Society's list of
    compounds that have shown some evidence of cancer prevention.

    In January, WebMD reported results of another curcumin study, another curcumin study, which
    showed that curcumin helped cut Alzheimer's-related brain plaque in mice.

    Latest Test
    The mice in Aggarwal's breast cancer study were split into four treatment groups: curcumin alone, the
    breast cancer drug Taxol alone, curcumin and Taxol, and no treatment.

    The breast cancer cells were allowed to grow before being removed from the mice. Treatment started
    after that. Five weeks later, cancer had spread to the lungs of mice in all four groups. But the two
    curcumin groups fared best.

    Less than a quarter of the mice in the curcumin-plus-Taxol group had cancer that spread to the
    lungs. So did half of the curcumin group. In comparison, cancer spread to the lungs in three-fourths
    of the Taxol group and almost all (95%) mice that got no treatment.

    Surprising Results
    Those results were unexpected, so the researchers repeated the test. This time, they let the cancers
    grow a little bit bigger before removing them.

    After five weeks of treatment, half of the mice in the curcumin and curcumin-plus-Taxol groups had
    cancer in their lungs, says a news release.

    "Curcumin acts against transcription factors, which are like a master switch," says Aggarwal.
    "Transcription factors regulate all the genes needed for tumors to form. When we turn them off, we
    shut down some genes that are involved in the growth and invasion of cancer cells."

    Curcumin is being tested against a type of cancer called multiple myeloma and pancreatic cancer in
    early phase I clinical trials at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Other
    groups are conducting a global study of curcumin's ability to prevent oral cancer, says the news
    release.
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