Curcumin Treatment for Mesothelioma: Research is Encouraging
| | |

Curcumin Treatment for Mesothelioma: Research is Encouraging

ByAlex Strauss

The research on curcumin treatment for mesothelioma looks promising, but more hard science is needed before doctors can incorporate it into their treatment plans.  That is the message from a new multi-center international review of studies on curcumin for mesothelioma.  Curcumin is a phytochemical that gives the spice turmeric its distinctive yellow color. Phytochemicals are compounds produced by plants. Different phytochemicals help plants fight disease or protect themselves from other threats.  The new review summarizes the research on curcumin treatment for mesothelioma. It suggests that this compound may one day be a standard part of treating this intractable cancer.  What Do We Know About Curcumin? Practitioners of natural medicine have used the curcumin in turmeric to treat disease for hundreds…

Curcumin Supplement Delays Mesothelioma Tumor Growth in Mice
| | | | |

Curcumin Supplement Delays Mesothelioma Tumor Growth in Mice

ByAlex Strauss

Italian researchers say a curcumin supplement containing a compound found in black pepper slowed the growth of mesothelioma tumors in mice. The commercially available supplement is called Curcumin-C3complex/Bioperine. This is the first time this formulation has been studied for malignant mesothelioma.  Lab-grown human mesothelioma cells stopped growing when scientists treated them with the curcumin supplement. The treatment did the same in live mice.  The researchers suggest that the curcumin supplement may work synergistically with standard treatments.  What is in Curcumin-C3complex/Bioperine? Curcumin is the most bioactive compound in turmeric. Turmeric is the spice that gives curry its bright yellow color.  Several scientific studies suggest that curcumin and other curcuminoid compounds in turmeric have powerful health benefits. These compounds are anti-inflammatory and…

Treating Mesothelioma with Curcumin: Success May Be Predictable
| | | | | | | | |

Treating Mesothelioma with Curcumin: Success May Be Predictable

ByAlex Strauss

Clinicians may be a step closer to being able to use curcumin to combat aggressive malignant pleural mesothelioma. Curcumin is the plant polyphenol that gives turmeric its yellow hue and spicy flavor. It has anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to inhibit the growth of mesothelioma cells from animal models in the laboratory. Now, for the first time, researchers in Australia say they have successfully done the same thing with human cells taken from their own mesothelioma patients. Researcher Sonja Klebe, an Associate Professor at Flinders Medical Centre in South Australia where the new research was conducted, says the breakthrough will allow doctors to predict whether or not a certain mesothelioma patient will benefit from treatment with curcumin. The research…

Component in Spice May Help Slow Mesothelioma Growth
| | | | |

Component in Spice May Help Slow Mesothelioma Growth

ByAlex Strauss

Yet another study has demonstrated the potential mesothelioma-fighting properties of curcumin, an anti-inflammatory polyphenol that is the primary component in the spice turmeric. The latest study suggests that applying curcumin along with cancer-fighting peptides may increase the levels of a protein inhibitor that can slow the progression of mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is usually caused by exposure to the mineral asbestos. Tens of thousands of people contract this aggressive cancer annually. Many of them worked in industries that used asbestos heavily before it was revealed to cause mesothelioma. Cancer researchers around the world continue to work on a way to slow the cancer, which often claims the lives of patients within a year of diagnosis. The latest study was conducted by doctors…

Spice May Trigger Mesothelioma Cell Breakdown
|

Spice May Trigger Mesothelioma Cell Breakdown

ByAlex Strauss

There’s more evidence that cancer researchers might do well to spice up their mesothelioma clinical trials. A team of researchers at Keio University in Tokyo report that curcumin, the primary component in the spice turmeric, can effectively reduce the viability of human mesothelioma cells in the laboratory. This, despite the fact that mesothelioma is notoriously resistant to many types of conventional cancer therapies. “Curcumin, which has a long history as a dietary spice, is known to suppress the growth of multiple cancer lines, but the effects on mesothelioma cells are not well-defined,” observed principal investigator Y. Yamauchi in Phytotherapy Research. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of internal membranes, triggered by asbestos exposure. Citing mesothelioma’s well-known treatment resistance, Yamauchi says alternative…

Potential Mesothelioma Therapy in a Spice
|

Potential Mesothelioma Therapy in a Spice

ByAlex Strauss

The major component in the spice turmeric may help treat drug resistant pleural mesothelioma. Researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit have been studying the effects of the compound, known as curcumin, on mesothelioma cells in the laboratory and in animal subjects. Their research suggests that curcumin has the power to attack mesothelioma from several angles. Pleural mesothelioma is an asbestos-related malignancy of the mesothelial tissue surrounding the lungs. It is aggressive and notoriously difficult to treat. The platinum-based chemotherapy drugs often used as a first-line treatment for mesothelioma may be ineffective if the patient has a strain of the disease that is resistant to them. So far, there is no proven alternative drug therapy for these patients. Now, the…