The clear take home is that if you have been diagnosed with cancer, turmeric
needs to be added to your protocol as a clear anti cancer tonic at the least. There is simply no harm whatever the effect
and general benefit and benefits may be valuable.
Obviously there is plenty of other things to also consider but this seems
to be a clear win. A little like having
your orange juice in the morning although considering what is done there not a
good present day comparable.
As posted often there is a wide list of quality herbs and foods that
promote excellent health. Our ban has
been eating a subsistence diet in disguise.
None of us would ever choose a diet of grits and grease with plenty of
sugar and white flour, but those are the things we use to manufacture our fast
food goodies.
Start by avoidance at least. Otherwise
there is never enough room for quality food.
January 30, 2014
Sayer Ji
A new turmeric study published in Cancer Letters is
paving the way for a revolution in the way that we both understand and treat
cancer. Titled, “Targeting cancer
stem cells by curcumin and clinical applications,” U.S. researchers evaluated the primary polyphenol in
the Indian spice known as curcumin for
its ability to target cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are believed to be at
the root cause of
tumor formation and malignancy.
Whereas conventional
models of cancer assumed that
the majority of the cancer cells within a tumor possess self-renewal capacity
to differing degrees, the CSC model proposes that, “[T]he initiation,
maintenance, and growth of a tumor is driven by a minor population of cancer
cells termed cancer stem cells (CSCs),” and that “These CSCs undergo continuous
self-renewal and differentiate to heterogeneous cancer cells, yielding new
tumors recapitulating the parental tumors, while the majority of cancer cells
lack self-renewal capacity.”
In other words, the CSCs are at the apex of a hierarchy
of cells within the tumor, and are the “mother” of the various daughter cells
that make it up, most of which are intrinsically benign. Conventional treatment withchemotherapy and
radiotherapy, based on a rodent model with a 2-year experimental window to
evaluate treatment efficacy and safety, was incapable of comprehending the
CSC-mediated cause of post-treatment tumor recurrence, which in humans can take
decades after initial treatment to manifest. Although it was possible to debulk
a tumor with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, CSC populations were often
missed or even enriched as a result. When the tumor mass
regrew it often became more invasive and treatment-resistant, resulting in the
rapid demise and death of the patient — deaths which are often written off
inaccurately or disingenuously as non-treatment related.
Given that conventional treatment can drive an
intrinsically benign tumor (i.e., so-called
indolent tumors) into greater invasiveness through increasing
the number of intrinsically resilient cancer stem cells at the very same moment
that it kills the less or non-harmful daughter cells, alternative treatment
approaches are needed now more than ever.
The Cancer Stem Cell
Killing Role of Turmeric (Curcumin)
Turmeric and
curcumin extract have been extensively studied for their ability to kill
various cancer cell lines. In fact, the literature is so abundant (see: 600 health
benefits of turmeric) that it is both
surprising and disheartening that so many patients who are in need of safe,
effective and affordable treatments are not being given information about it.
The new study identifies a number of ways in
which curcumin provides an ideal CSC-targeting
therapy, including:
·
Regulation of the CSC self-renewal
pathway: curcumin appears to directly and indirectly influence at least
three self-renewal pathways within cancer stem cells, namely, Wnt/b-catenin,
sonic hedgehog 89 (SHH), and Notch. The authors list 12 difference cancer
cell lines which curcumin appear to affect positively.
·
Modulation of microRNA: microRNAs are short
non-coding RNA sequences that regulate approximately 33% of the protein-coding
genes in the human genome. They bind to target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) leading
to their degradation or inactivation. Curcumin has been found to alter the
expression of microRNAs in cancer stem cells in a way that would suggest a
strong suppression of tumor formation.
·
Direct anti-cancer activity: Curcumin exhibits
the ability to selectively
kill cancer cells versus healthy cells and synergizes with
conventional chemotherapy agents making
them more effective (in some cases less harmful).
The researchers evaluated the safety and
tolerability of all the available human research on curcumin in human cancer
studies and found no cause for concern. They also noted “Curcumin, as a natural
remedy for thousands of years, has been shown to be well tolerated and causes
no significant toxicity in a number ofclinical trials.”
The conclusion of the study:
“Curcumin, as well as its modified forms (analogues or
nanoparticle-encapsulated formulations), has shown great potential to inhibit
CSCs in several types of cancer both in cell cultures and in mouse models,
including glioma, breast, colorectal, pancreatic, brain, and esophageal
cancers. Some analogues (e.g., CDF) and formulations (e.g.,
nanotechnology-based formulation) have exhibited improved efficacy against
CSC-like cells and greater growth-inhibitory capacity in tumors. It is
promising to evaluate curcumin and its modified forms in other types of CSCs.”
About the Author
Sayer Ji is the founder of GreenMedInfo.com,
an author, researcher, lecturer, and an advisory board member of the National
Health Federation. Google Plus
Profile. His writings have been published and
referenced widely in print and online, including, Truthout, Mercola.com, New
York Times online, The Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, New York Times and
The Well Being Journal.
He founded Greenmedinfo.com in 2008 in order
to provide the world an open access, evidence-based resource supporting natural
and integrative modalities. It is widely recognized as the most widely
referenced health resource of its kind.
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