Trio of Studies Confirm Cancer Fighting Properties of New Novel Form of Curcumin
20 May 2015 --- Curcumin, the extract from the curry spice Turmeric, has long been known for its vast array of health benefits. Researchers from around the globe are actively investigating its many health applications, including: fight against cancer, arthritis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and reversing the pathological processes underlying Alzheimer’s disease, among other conditions.
Recently there has been lot of interest in role of curcumin for its chemosensitizing effect on 5-FU based chemotherapy drugs. Shakibaei et. al (Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Germany, 2014) showed curcumin suppresses crosstalk between colon cancer stem cells and stromal fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment. Modulation of this synergistic crosstalk by curcumin might be a potential therapy for CRC and to suppress metastasis. Identifying agents that are able to suppress the crosstalk between cancer and stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment might be an important therapeutic target for repressing the metastatic potential of CSCs. Curcumin has been also shown to chemosensitize 5-Fluorouracil Resistant MMR-Deficient Human Colon Cancer Cells in high density cultures (Toden et al., Baylor Research Institute, Baylor University Medical Center Dallas, US, 2014). The results illustrated novel and previously unrecognized effects of curcumin in enhancing chemosensitization of 5-FU based chemotherapy in DNA MMR-deficient and their chemoresistant counterparts by targeting the CSC subpopulation.
Recent study (Toden et.al., Baylor University Medical Center Dallas, US, 2015) showed that curcumin can battle against Colorectal Cancer by increasing the effectiveness of Chemotherapy. Curcumin mediated chemosensitization to 5-FU through miRNA-induced suppression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in chemoresistant colorectal cancer. Resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy is a major cause of mortality in colorectal cancer and this study highlighted the potential therapeutic use of curcumin as an adjunct in patients with chemoresistant advanced CRC.
A specific kind of curcumin (BCM-95) was used in all the above studies. BCM-95 is a patented, 100% natural turmeric extract with high bioavailability and free of harmful solvents, excipients or carriers, abides by CA prop 65 and maintains true identity of turmeric.
