"I think the promise is enormous," said Bharat Aggarwal, PhD, Professor of Cancer Research, Cancer Medicine, and Chief of the Cytokine Research Laboratory in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Aggarwal has conducted numerous in vitro and animal studies of turmeric and its primary component, curcumin (diferuloylmethane), and recently gave a lecture discussing "Curcumin as a Paradigm for Nutrition-based Therapy" at the annual conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology.

"Turmeric and curcumin are anti-inflammatory," Aggarwal said. "That has been described in traditional medicine like Ayurveda for thousands of years."

More recently, Aggarwal and colleagues have shown that curcumin inhibits inflammation by reducing activation of the IB kinase/NF-B pathway. As researchers have come to understand the role inflammation plays in cancer, they have grown more interested in the ability of curcumin to prevent or treat this disease.

NF-B plays a key role in regulating several other cellular processes such as apoptosis and cell proliferation, suggesting curcumin might exert anticancer activities independent of its inhibition of inflammation. And, recent preclinical studies have documented that curcumin can inhibit angiogenesis, induce apoptosis, and slow metastasis.

What’s more, these effects do not appear to be limited to just one type of cancer. Curcumin has shown effects against metastatic melanoma (Cancer 2005;104:879-890), mantle cell lymphoma (Biochemical Pharmacology 2005;70:700–713), and other cancers. Most recently, Aggarwal published a study in the journal Clinical Cancer Research (2005;11:7490–7498) showing that dietary curcumin inhibited lung metastases in mice with advanced human breast cancer. In addition, it appeared to moderate the toxicity of paclitaxel and enhance the drug’s positive effects—another potential benefit to using curcumin more broadly in cancer therapy.

However, at least one laboratory study also suggests that curcumin may inhibit the proapoptotic action of camptothecin, mechlorethamine, and doxorubicin in vitro and the antitumor activity of cyclophosphamide against human breast cancer xenographs in athymic mice, raising concern regarding its therapeutic use until the completion of clinical trials that are currently underway.

At MD Anderson Cancer Center alone, Aggarwal said, doctors are exploring the effect of curcumin on multiple myeloma, and whether it can improve outcomes for people with advanced pancreatic cancer. The institution is also seeking funding for a study of curcumin in women with breast cancer, he said. Studies from other institutions, both in the United States and overseas, are looking at curcumin as a potential treatment for myelodysplastic syndromes, and for preventing colorectal cancer in individuals with familial adenomatous polyposis or with sporadic polyps.

Another aspect of curcumin that makes it appealing for cancer therapy and prevention is its apparent lack of serious side effects, Aggarwal said. Although high doses and prolonged use may cause stomach irritation or upset in some people, Aggarwal said studies have found no serious toxicity, even at doses as high as 8 to 12 g/day.

查询更多A相关信息在本站>>

《临床癌症学报》2006年3月第56卷第2期