Can Curcumin Help in Fighting Cancer?

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In an article titled “Turmeric Extract Strikes To The Root Cause of Cancer Malignancy,” by Sayer Ji at GreenMed Info, Ji notes a new study that “identifies a number of ways in which curcumin provides an ideal CSC-targeting therapy.” He writes:

A turmeric study published in Cancer Letters is paving the way for a revolution in the way that we both understand and treat cancer.

Whereas conventional models of cancer assumed that the majority of the cancer cells within a tumor possess self-renewal capacity to differing degrees, the CSC model proposes that, “[T]he initiation, maintenance, and growth of a tumor is driven by a minor population of cancer cells termed cancer stem cells (CSCs).

Although it was possible to debulk a tumor with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, CSC populations were often missed or even enriched as a result. When the tumor mass regrew it often became more invasive and treatment-resistant, resulting in the rapid demise and death of the patient — deaths which are often written off inaccurately or disingenuously as non-treatment related.

Given that conventional treatment can drive an intrinsically benign tumor (i.e., so-called indolent tumors) into greater invasiveness through increasing the number of intrinsically resilient cancer stem cells at the very same moment that it kills the less or non-harmful daughter cells, alternative treatment approaches are needed now more than ever.

Turmeric and curcumin extract have been extensively studied for their ability to kill various cancer cell lines. In fact, the literature is so abundant (see: 600 health benefits of turmeric) that it is both surprising and disheartening that so many patients who are in need of safe, effective and affordable treatments are not being given information about it.

The new study identifies a number of ways in which curcumin provides an ideal CSC-targeting therapy,

©January 29th 2014 GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.