Curcumin

CURCUMIN AND CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY

As a result of numerous studies, it is known that Curcumin increases the death rate of cancer cells and stops the division of tumor cells. It has also been determined that curcumin provides faster results from treatment by increasing the effect of radiotherapy. In recent years, many studies have been published showing that curcumin is effective in increasing the effectiveness of radiation or chemotherapy agents commonly used in cancer treatment and in preventing normal tissue damage caused by treatment.

Curcumin creates a synergy with chemotherapy agents. Rapid recoveries and the best results observed to date are remarkable in many cancer patients receiving curcumin-supported chemotherapy. This application means intervening in cancer cells with two separate principles and two separate ways, which can mean that 2+2 does not equal 4 in synergistic effects. Another very important result emerges when curcumin is applied together with chemotherapy, which can perhaps be evaluated as a factor that accelerates the treatment process. The harmful chemicals of curcumin fight toxins in the body and perform detoxification thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties.

It prevents toxic accumulation of chemotherapy drugs applied one after another. It is noteworthy that the blood tables of patients receiving chemotherapy with curcumin do not deteriorate, liver enzymes are not damaged and most importantly, an infectious infrastructure does not form. On the other hand, the aim of cancer treatment is to kill cancer cells. Considering that the cancer cell structure is 20 times more resistant and strong than healthy cells, curcumin plays an important role in breaking this resistance of chemotherapy agents. Cancer cells can choose drugs according to the variety of chemotherapy drugs and cancer cell differences, and may not give standard positive responses to every chemotherapy drug.

In addition, such a possibility has not been determined for curcumin. At the same time, due to its chelator feature, it can somehow affect almost every cancer cell and weaken its resistance. This feature of curcumin has been evaluated as activating the P53 protein and showing a P53 effect on cancer cells. It has been reported that curcumin has an anti-carcinogenic effect on different tumors with a wide variety of mechanisms. Various studies have shown that it suppresses inflammation, cell proliferation, some oncogenes, tumor implantation and biotransformation of carcinogens, transcription NF-kB and COX2 enzymes, while activating glutathione-s-transferase (GST) enzymes.

The results show that curcumin causes a significant decrease in cell proliferation area, while significantly increasing apoptosis. A significant decrease in microvessel density was also detected. In ongoing studies, it has been suggested that curcumin inhibits prostate cancer development and is a powerful therapeutic anti-cancer agent in preventing the development of this cancer in hormone-resistant cases.

Curcumin has been shown to have positive effects against metastasis in clinical studies due to its ability to help regulate cell structure, prevent cell fragmentation and prevent negative cell signals.
Studies have shown that curcumin activity is effective in leukemia-lymphoma, gastrointestinal system cancers, genitourinary system cancers, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, head and neck cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, and neurological cancers.
(Preatha Anand.,Chitra Sundorom.,Sonio Jhuroni.,Ajaikumar B.,Bharat B.Aggarwal,in cancer letters. 2008,vol;267)
In phase 1 clinical studies, it has been determined that curcumin obtained from turmeric is beneficial and safe for the future and plays a healing role especially in cancer types where the cell cycle is disrupted. In these phase studies, curcumin has shown a therapeutic effect (curative treatment) against various diseases in humans. It has been determined that curcumin is very useful in cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, arthritis and neurological diseases.

It has been determined that curcumin, when used alone or in combination, prevents physiological cell death (apoptosis) and ensures that the cell structure maintains its physiological properties, and is beneficial.

According to the first examination results, curcumin has shown significant activity in gastrointestinal system and colorectal cancers. (Gaurısankar Sa.,Tanya Das.,Shuvamay Bonerjee.,Division of Molecular Medicine,Bose Institute Ameen Journal Medicine Sciences,2010,vol;3)
The effect of turmeric on prostate cancer by benefiting from its cytotoxic effect and protein profile The effect of the extract obtained by extracting the dry powder of turmeric with ethylacetate on metastatic prostate cancer was investigated. The proteimic profile and cytotoxic effect of turmeric extract provides protein level on DNA and prevents uncontrolled division of proteins on cells, and it is effective in prostate cancer.