Curcumin and bioperine target BC stem cells

This is one of the better articles I've read about this -- thank you for posting the link, Nan!

Just more confirmation on my regime! At least they don't say in this article NOT to take these supplements because they could be dangerous!

You can use it in cooking as well as taking supplementation. This is the supplement that I take by Life Extension. I take it with fish oil so that I get the maximum absorption. You need to take turmeric (curcumin) with pepper and oil for best absorption.

http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements/Item00912/Super-Curcumin-with-Bioperine.html

Fairy, I have found that Life Extension has a great variety of the supplements - including the important ones that I take. Since I joined, I get the members prices, which is very reasonable. Plus, the shipping is great. I typically receive things within a couple of days. Whenever I order from Vitacost or Naturamart, the freakin stuff takes forever!

RobinWendy - I have never heard of curcumin being a problem with gall stones. Where did you see that?

Thanks Nana for posting these links.

I PM'd you earlier regarding a question I have about TNBC.

What dose do you girls take? The one I just bought today has 900mg of Curcumin in it and 5mg of Bioperine. The bottle says to take 1-2 capsules/day. Is one enough?

Here is an article that David Servan-Schreiber posted on Facebook regarding the potential effectiveness of turmeric and pepper on the most aggressive breast cancers:

Turmeric and black pepper fight cancer stem cells Share  Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 3:21am

A new study shows that a combination of turmeric and piperine can limit the growth of stem cells for breast cancer -- the cells that conventional treatment have the hardest time eliminating.


My friend Madhuri Kakarala is a physician at the University of Michigan; she's a cancer specialist and a PhD researcher. But she's also a nutritionist, and, like me, during her final years of medical studies she was diagnosed with cancer -- a stage IV cancer of the thyroid. Madhuri decided to invest all her talent as a researcher and clinician in the task of getting well, and she rapidly arrived at the conclusion that nutritional change could significantly improve her response to her cancer treatment.

Because Madhuri is from an Indian background, she was most interested in the medical and culinary traditions of her country, and particularly fascinated by the promising effects of turmeric in the prevention and treatment of cancers.

This month Madhuri published an important article on the effect of turmeric on breast cancer stem cells. [1] Stem cells are at the center of a theory that seeks to explain why cancer can sometimes return, despite apparently effective treatment. This is because even when all the cancer cells have been eliminated these cancer stem cells that have lied dormant and escaped treatments may be able to form entire new colonies of cancer cells. So to prevent relapse, it's essential that we learn how to eliminate the stem cells. But unfortunately, because they don't actively renew themselves through cell division like other cancer cells do, most existing treatments that target cancerous cells (like radiotherapy and chemotherapy) aren't effective against stem cells. For this reason, the pharmaceutical industry has a whole sector of research devoted to developing new therapies to target and destroy stem cells.

For several years now, Madhuri's lab at the University of Michigan has been studying the effect on breast cancer of curcumin -- one of the most active substances in turmeric -- and piperine, which is a substance active in black pepper. In her latest study she demonstrates that concentrations of curcumin and piperine which can be obtained through diet or from dietary supplements are capable of eliminating breast cancer stem cells, without causing any damage to the normal breast cells. In other words, this isn't a general toxic effect on cells, like conventional anti-cancer treatments have, but an ultra-selective impact on cancer stem cells alone.

"This shows that these compounds are not toxic to normal breast tissue," Madhuri says. "Women at high risk of breast cancer right now can choose to take the drugs tamoxifen or raloxifene for prevention, but most women won't take these drugs because there is too much toxicity. The concept that dietary compounds can help is attractive, and curcumin and piperine appear to have very low toxicity."

The possible anti-cancer properties of curcumin and piperine have been the object of many other studies. But this study is the first to show that they may have a targeted effect on stem cells. Medications like tamoxifen or raloxifene only act against cancers that are sensitive to estrogen. If curcumin and piperine can target stem cells, they have the potential to be useful in many types of breast cancer, particularly those that aren't estrogen-sensitive -- and these are often the most aggressive.

Madhuri's study was performed on cell colonies in Petri dishes, in lab conditions. So we haven't yet reached the stage of a clinical study that would establish guidelines for recommendations to take turmeric supplements at specific dosages for certain types of cancer. However, given that turmeric and pepper, taken as part of a normal diet, are practically never toxic in any way, it seems to me to be perfectly reasonable to recommend that all of us regularly consume a soupspoon of turmeric every day, with a pinch of pepper. You can use it in all your cooking, just like I've been doing for years.

CAUTION: Note that it is often safest to avoid turmeric during chemotherapy as well as a three days before and after the treatment. This is because it can - rarely, but it can - interfere with some chemotherapy treatments and reduce their benefits.

REFERENCE
1. Kakarala, M., et al., Targeting breast stem cells with the cancer preventive compounds curcumin and piperine. Breast Cancer Research & Treatment, 2009.

Seaotter... I'm wondering the same thing. (See my post a few days back). I'm hoping people will jump in and let us know! :-)    

Imagine a natural substance so smart it can tell the difference between a cancer cell and a normal cell; so powerful it can stop chemicals in their tracks; and so strong it can enable DNA to walk away from lethal doses of radiation virtually unscathed. Curcumin has powers against cancer so beneficial that drug companies are rushing to make drug versions. Curcumin is all this and more.

Curcuma longa is a ginger-like plant that grows in tropical regions. The roots contain a bright yellow substance (turmeric) that contains curcumin and other curcuminoids. Turmeric has been used in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for centuries. But it's only within the past few years that the extraordinary actions of curcumin against cancer have been scientifically documented. Among its many benefits, curcumin has at least a dozen separate ways of interfering with cancer.

Curcumin blocks estrogen mimicking chemicals

One of the things that sets curcumin apart from most other anti-cancer supplements (I3C being an exception), is that this phenolic can actually block chemicals from getting inside cells. Importantly, curcumin can interfere with pesticides that mimic estrogen. These include DDT and dioxin, two extremely toxic chemicals that contaminate America's water and food. (Dioxin is so toxic that a few ounces of it could wipe out the entire population of New York City). Curcumin has the unique ability to fit through a cellular doorway known as the aryl hydrocarbon receptor. This is a feat it shares with estrogen and estrogen-mimicking chemicals. Because it can compete for the same doorway, curcumin has the power to block access to the cell and protect against estrogen mimickers.

Like estrogen, estrogen-mimicking chemicals promote the growth of breast cancer. In a study on human breast cancer cells, curcumin reversed growth caused by 17b-estradiol by 98%. DDT's growth-enhancing effects on breast cancer were blocked about 75% by curcumin.

Two other estrogen mimickers were tested for their ability to enhance breast cancer. Chlordane and endosulfane together make breast cancer cells grow about as much as17b-estradiol. Curcumin can reverse that growth about 90%. Adding the soy phytochemical, genistein, causes a 100% growth arrest.

Curcumin's ability to block other chemicals have been documented. It has been tested against paraquat (weed killer), nitrosamines (in cooked meat and "lunch" meats) and carbon tetrachloride (a solvent in varnish and other products). In all cases, curcumin is able to block the chemical's effect. The beneficial effects are evident in a study where mice were treated with diethylnitrosamine. All mice treated with this chemical would usually develop liver cancer. However, when treated with curcumin, the percentage of animals developing cancer went from 100% to 38%, and the number of tumors dropped by 81%.

Drug companies rush to make synthetic versions

One of the hottest areas of oncology drug development is in the area of kinase inhibitors. Kinases are the equivalent of phone lines into cancer cells. There are over 2000 known protein kinases, or phone lines. These lines run from the outside of a cell into the DNA command center. They carry messages. Cut these lines, and you can effectively stop the growth of some types of cancer cells.

Curcumin effectively blocks some of the lines. In cells treated with curcumin, certain "grow" signals are blocked from reaching the cell.

The most well-studied growth factor blocked by curcumin is nuclear factor-k B. NF-kB is activated by chemical messengers known as cytokines. Cytokines help the immune system, but they also activate signals that tell cells to multiply, grow. By interfering with those signals, curcumin effectively stops the growth of cancer cells by kinase pathways. It has been demonstrated, for example, that curcumin can prevent the bug that causes ulcers (Helicobacter pylori) from causing cancer. H. pylori increases levels of a cytokine (IL-8) that activates NF-kB. Curcumin blocks the process.

Drug companies are rushing to patent chemicals that do what curcumin does-inhibit kinases. AstraZeneca has gotten one off the ground called "Iressa". Iressa inhibits protein kinase C (PKC), a kinase that plays a significant role in cancer. PKC transmits signals from the "epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor." Cutting off signal transmission through EGF significantly slows the growth of any cancer that uses this factor to grow-glioma, breast, prostate, skin and lung cancers.

Curcumin has long been known for its ability to prevent skin cancer. In 1993, researchers in Taiwan reported that curcumin inhibits PKC. The next year it was reported that curcumin blocks EGF signals up to 90% and stops growth.

It turns out that the structure of curcumin enables it to inhibit multiple kinases. This ability is shared with other phytochemicals including silymarin, apigenin and hypericin. While drug companies rush to try to recreate safe, patentable, chemical versions of this structure, curcumin sits ready and available for use. Blocking kinases, however, is only one of curcumin's anti-cancer effects.

Inflammation: Curcumin suppresses LOX and COX

Squamous cell carcinoma can affect the bronchial tubes, mouth or skin. When researchers at the University of Missouri treated oral squamous cell carcinoma cells with curcumin, it caused significant growth inhibition.

Curcumin is also notably effective against colon cancer. Inflammation appears to play a significant role in promoting this type of cancer. Curcumin has long been known for its anti-inflammatory action. More recently, it has been shown that curcumin inhibits cyclooxygenase (COX) and lipoxygenase (LOX), two enzymes that promote inflammation. Inflammation is in the limelight these days because of the discovery that people who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including aspirin, have stunning protection against colon cancer. Inflammation, it turns out, plays significant and diverse roles in the initiation and promotion of cancer. Oxidative stress helps activate PKC, for example. Part of curcumin's ability to block PKC signals is due to its powerful antioxidant activity.

Curcumin possesses several other anti-cancer benefits that make it useful for cancer prevention. One of its most recognized features is its antioxidant action. Turmeric is a spice that contains curcumin. It has traditionally been used as a food preservative for a good reason: it keeps food from going rancid-oxidizing. And just as it keeps oxygen from turning meat rancid, it protects our own bodies from damaging free radicals. Free radicals promote cancer by damaging DNA and activating genes.

Radiation damages DNA partially through free radicals. In a recent study, it was demonstrated that under laboratory conditions, curcumin could protect bacteria from a lethal dose of radiation almost perfectly. Bacterial DNA emerged virtually intact.

Curcumin kills cancer cells

Curcumin, Free Radicals and Methylation Methylation of DNA is critical for maintaining a cancer-free state. More specifically, certain patterns of methylated and non-methylated DNA keep cancer genes turned off, and tumor suppressor genes turned on. Dr. Khing Lertratanangkoon has done research showing that chemicals which deplete glutathione in the liver, cause DNA methylation disruption. In other words, maintaining glutathione is important for maintaining DNA methylation. Glutathione is the liver's natural antioxidant. Chemicals (which are all processed by the liver) deplete glutathione. Curcumin protects glutathione in the presence of chemicals (including alcohol). Dr. Lertratanangkoon has shown that a glutathione-depleting chemical can disrupt DNA methylation. But if curcumin is given at the same time, both methylation and glutathione are maintained. Bottom line: curcumin may also save DNA methylation patterns, another anti-cancer benefit.

Curcumin can stop cancer in its earliest stages, long before it's detectable. It works at the level of the cell. One of the things it does is to tell damaged cells to self-destruct so they won't keep multiplying. The process is called "apoptosis" and it's the body's way of destroying abnormal cells that can become cancerous. Cancer cells can circumvent the process, but curcumin can override them and send "self-destruct" signals to many different types of cancer cells. Curcumin does not induce apoptosis of healthy cells, only cancerous ones. It identifies cancer cells by their abnormal chemistry. Unfortunately, it doesn't work in all types of cancer, but Indian researchers may have figured out why. Their findings, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, may lead to ways of making most types of cancer susceptible to curcumin's effects.

Before apoptosis is induced, curcumin stops cancer cells from multiplying. In cancer research, this is known as "interrupting the cell cycle." The cell cycle can be interrupted at several different points. This is the rationale behind using various chemotherapy treatments in one person. One drug stops the cells when they are in one stage of growth; another stops them at another stage. Using a variety of drugs that stop growth at different stages increases the chances of killing all the cancer cells. Curcumin arrests the growth of cancer cells in the G2 stage.

Other phytochemicals stop the cell cycle at other stages. Genistein, a soy phytochemical, arrests growth at G2, like curcumin. But epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) from green tea, arrests cancer cell growth at the G1 phase. Combining EGCG with curcumin increases the odds of killing more cells. Researchers at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have suggested that EGCG and curcumin be used together for cancer prevention.

Curcumin enhances immunity

Curcumin can also help the body fight off cancer should some cells escape apoptosis. When researchers looked at the lining of the intestine after ingestion of curcumin, they found that CD4+ T-helper and B type immune cells were greater in number. In addition to this localized immune stimulation, curcumin also enhances immunity in general. Researchers in India have documented increased antibodies and more immune action in mice given curcumin.

Curcumin stops angiogenesis

All of the above actions of curcumin stop cancer before it has a chance to become detectable. If cancer grows to the point that it is a detectable tumor, curcumin can still have an effect.

Certain enzymes enable tumors to create a blood supply for themselves. Known as "angiogenesis," this phenomenon allows tumors to invade surrounding tissue and spread. Working with blood vessels of the eye (where angiogenesis creates big problems for vision), researchers at Tufts University were able to inhibit blood vessel formation by using curcuminoids. Curcumin blocks AP-1, which enhances angiogenesis.

Curcumin may also inhibit angiogenesis by chelating metals used by enzymes that promote the growth of blood vessels. Some of the enzymes that promote angiogenesis are known as "metalloproteinases." Metalloproteinases require metals to work. Curcumin chelates iron and probably copper-both of which help metalloproteinases create new blood vessels for tumors. In a study on a highly invasive form of human liver cancer, curcumin inhibited metastasis 70% by suppressing metalloproteinase-9. Curcumin appears to be very protective against liver cancer. In a more recent study, the incidence of liver cancer was slashed 62%, with the number of tumors decreasing by 81% in mice given curcumin four days before a carcinogenic chemical.

Curcumin possesses several other anti-cancer benefits that make it highly effective as a cancer preventive agent against almost any type of cancer. One of its most talked-about features is its antioxidant action.

The cancer preventive effects of curcumin are powerful and proven. Curcumin interferes with the ability of estrogen-mimicking and other chemicals to do damage (a trait it shares with I3C). It is a powerful antioxidant that can alter gene expression, stop the cell cycle, and induce the self-destruction of cancer cells without affecting healthy ones. By blocking signals known as kinases, curcumin interrupts signals that enable cancer cells to grow. In addition, curcumin enhances immunity and blocks the invasion and metastases of tumors. Curcumin significantly reduces the risk of cancer after chemical exposure, and appears especially beneficial against colon and liver cancers. The actions of curcumin have been the subject of presentations at major meetings on cancer research, and the object of study by researchers at the most prestigious universities in the world. If curcumin were a drug, it would be hailed as one of the best all-around cancer drugs ever invented. As it is, it's a phytochemical with impeccable credentials, thousands of years of use behind it, and a very small price tag. No wonder a host of drug companies want to imitate it.

Deni, you take 4 of the life extension ones a day? just wanted to double check that, I have only been taking one!!  I take my fish oil 3 times a day, do you think I should just take another curcumin when I take those? Thanks!

L

ox

OK, I have to increase my consumption of turmeric, then: I have just been eating a generous sprinkling of it with black pepper on my poached eggs in the morning.....

right o! Thanks Deni! We should start another thread with dosages for each of the supplements, I am sure there are others that I am not taking enough of! sigh......this is like having a 2nd job LOL!!

L

Thanks Fairy49, I just printed your very imformative blog above....I have been adding tumeric and pepper since reading about it in David Schreiber's book "Anti Cancer" and so many other books, websites, news etc.......I even bought a Indian cookbook to learn more recipes for it....This morning I scrambled an egg in olive oil added my tumeric and pepper and one of my newest finds "grapeseed oil Vegenaise", put it on wholegrain oatnut toast and had a glass of "Bolthouse Farm's" Vedge (has a mix of 8 vegetables in it, taste like a sweeter V-8)...I actually made 2 (one for my husband) with only the one scrambled egg...I have cut back on eggs.....thanks again...

Patty! I take mine in the morning after my oatmeal and green juice  I honestly don't know when to take my supplements, so I usually take some in the AM and then some at lunch and then again in the evening, I know deni says that you have to take the curcumin with oil, so I take with my fish oil, at least I had that part right LOL! but I wasn't aware of the higher dosage, so I plan on upping that to 2 per day and then 4.

Merry Christmas to all of you lovely ladies!