Turmeric is a traditional medicine that has long been used by some people of Indonesia. Apparently it has various properties of turmeric to treat various diseases. One of them cancer. More information about the properties of turmeric to treat cancer see the following article:
Curcumin, a major component of turmeric is widely used in curry spices were able to suppress cell signaling pathways that promote cancer growth in head and neck cancer. Curcumin can work in the mouth of patients with malignant head and neck cancer, and reduce cancer growth.
This research using human saliva and findings have been published on 15 September in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, published by the American Association of Cancer Research.
"Not only affects cancer cells by inhibiting the signal pathway, curcumin also affect saliva by reducing cytokine enzyme, which causes inflammation present in saliva," said Dr.. Marilene Wang researcher at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center of the ScienceDaily quoted as saying on Thursday (09/15/2011).
Turmeric is a spice that is widely used in South Asia, East Asia, and Central Asia for cooking and has long been known to have medicinal properties, which have anti-inflammatory properties.
Previous studies have shown that curcumin can suppress the growth of certain cancers. For years, women in India have used turmeric as a topical anti-aging medicine, treat cramps during menstruation and as a poultice on the skin to speed healing of wounds.
"A 2005 study conducted by Dr. Wang and his team showed that curcumin suppresses the growth of head and neck cancer in mice. In animal studies, curcumin is applied directly to the tumor in the form of a paste. Research in 2010 which is also done on mouse cells found that curcumin suppress the growth of head and neck cancer by regulating cell cycle, "said Eri Srivatsan, professor of surgery and the Jonsson Cancer Center researcher who has been studying curcumin and its anti-cancer for seven years with Dr.. Wang.
Curcumin binds to and prevents an enzyme known as an inhibitor of kappa β kinase (IKK) which promotes cancer growth. In this study, 21 patients with head and neck cancer gave saliva samples before and after they chewed two tablets of 1,000 milligrams of curcumin. An hour later, the saliva sample was taken and extracted for measuring protein kinase activity of IKKβ.
Eating curcumin not only make contact with the cancer, but also with saliva, and this research shows that it reduces the levels of cytokines in exacerbating cancer.
"An independent laboratory in Maryland confirmed that the cytokines in saliva promote inflammation and help to feed the cancer. However, the cytokine reduced in patients who chew and curcumin inhibits cell signaling pathways that trigger cancer growth," said Wang.
Curcumin has a significant inhibitory effect, blocking the two triggers the growth of cancers of the head and neck cancers are different. The researchers believe that curcumin may be combined with other treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation to treat head and neck cancer. It can also be given to patients at high risk for head and neck cancer, ie smokers, those who like to chew tobacco, and patients with HPV infection.
To be effective in fighting cancer, curcumin should be used in supplement form. Although turmeric is used in cooking, the amount of curcumin is required to produce a much greater clinical effect. "Expecting a positive effect through eating foods spiced with turmeric is not realistic," Wang said.
The next step for Dr. Wang and his team is treating patients with curcumin for a longer time and see its inhibitory effect can be increased. They plan to treat cancer patients scheduled for the next few weeks will have surgery. They will perform a biopsy before the administration of curcumin and at the time of surgery and then analyze the network to look for differences in the effect.
"There's potential for supporting development of curcumin as a treatment for cancer patients. Curcumin is not toxic, well tolerated, inexpensive and easily available at health food stores. Although this study is promising, it is important to expand the discovery so that more patients to confirm our findings," explains Dr. Wang.
Looking for other ways to treat head and neck cancer is very important because patients often require surgery and miss partially tongue or mouth. Side effects that appear too much, including difficulty swallowing, dry mouth and oral cancer has the potential to have another later on.
