Curcumin Enhances Pancreatic Cancer Chemotherapy

Curcumin potentiates the antitumor effects of gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer (PC) by suppressing proliferation, angiogenesis, NF-kappaB, and NF-kappaB-regulated gene products

You have to wonder if the author of the study linked below tried to word the title as confusingly as possible. Let’s break it down.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is aggressive cancer with a miserable five-year survival rate. Conventional oncology offers little hope to the PC patient. While a chemotherapy called gemcitabine can kill PC, resistance will develop.

Curcumin is an example of an Integrative therapy that can potentiate the efficacy of gemcitabine as well as several other chemotherapy regimens- according to research.

Just as important is that curcumin is anti-angiogenic- meaning it cuts of the blood supply to the PCa tumor. Cancer tumors need increases in blood supplies to grow. There are other evidence-based, anti-angiogenic supplements as well as anti-angiogenic foods.

The bottom line is more about what the study below doesn’t say as what it does say. The study encourages PC patients to identify evidence-based supplements and foods that are1) anti-angiogenic and 2) cytotoxic (kill) PC.

I am a long-term cancer survivor of a different cancer. My cancer also is killed by anti-angiogenic foods and supplements.

Please take a moment to watch the short video below in order to learn more about some of these therapies:

Have you been diagnosed with PCa? What stage? Are you considering chemotherapy? Scroll down the page, post a question or a comment and I will reply to you ASAP.

Thanks

David Emerson

Cancer Survivor
Cancer Coach
Director PeopleBeatingCancer

Curcumin potentiates antitumor activity of gemcitabine in an orthotopic model of pancreatic cancer through suppression of proliferation, angiogenesis, and inhibition of nuclear factor-kappaB-regulated gene products.

“Gemcitabine is currently the best treatment available for PC, but the disease develops resistance to the drug over time. Agents that can either enhance the effects of gemcitabine or overcome chemoresistance to the drug are needed for the treatment of pancreatic cancer…

Curcumin, a component of turmeric (Curcuma longa), is one such agent that has been shown to suppress the transcription factor nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), which is implicated in proliferation, survival, angiogenesis, and chemoresistance…

In vitro, curcumin inhibited the proliferation of various PC cell lines, potentiated the apoptosis induced by gemcitabine, and inhibited constitutive NF-kappaB activation in the cells. In vivo, tumors from nude mice injected with pancreatic cancer cells and treated with a combination of curcumin and gemcitabine showed significant reductions in volume..

The combination treatment was also highly effective in suppressing angiogenesis as indicated by a decrease in CD31(+) microvessel density.

Overall, our results suggest that curcumin potentiates the antitumor effects of gemcitabine in PC by suppressing proliferation, angiogenesis, NF-kappaB, and NF-kappaB-regulated gene products.”

Therapeutic applications of curcumin for patients with pancreatic cancer

“A number of preclinical studies have demonstrated anticancer effects for curcumin in various types of tumors, including pancreatic cancer. Curcumin has anticancer effects both alone and in combination with other anticancer drugs (e.g., gemcitabine, 5-fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin), and it has been shown to modulate a variety of molecular targets in preclinical models, with more than 30 molecular targets identified to date.

Of these various molecules, NF-κB is thought to be one of the primary targets of curcumin activity. Based on these promising preclinical results, several research groups, including our own, have progressed to testing the anticancer effects of curcumin in clinical trials; however, the poor bioavailability of this agent has been the major challenge for its clinical application…”

Diagnosed with Cancer? Your two greatest challenges are understanding cancer and understanding possible side effects from chemo and radiation. Knowledge is Power!

Curcumin Enhances Pancreatic Cancer Chemotherapy

Curcumin potentiates the antitumor effects of gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer (PC) by suppressing proliferation, angiogenesis, NF-kappaB, and NF-kappaB-regulated gene products

Recommended Reading:

Curcumin potentiates antitumor activity of gemcitabine in an orthotopic model of pancreatic cancer through suppression of proliferation, angiogenesis, and inhibition of nuclear factor-kappaB-regulated gene products.

Therapeutic applications of curcumin for patients with pancreatic cancer

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