Science & the Anti-cancer Properties of Turmeric

Written by John O'Sullivan on February 8, 2022. Posted in Current News

Growing concerns about downsides of current cancer treatments such as chemotherapy are leading to viable alternatives being pursued. In the scientific literature turmeric, a natural remedy, is coming to the fore as a valuable addition to the toolbox of cancer care.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimates that, by 2030 chemotherapy will have failed to have been effective in around 22 million cases and about 13 million cancer-related deaths will result. [1,2]

Meanwhile, the U.S. National Cancer Institute confirms that “Results from early-phase trials of curcumin-containing products in the chemoprevention of colon, oral, and hepatic carcinoma appear promising.” [3]

Studies have shown lower cancer rates in India where there is higher consumption of spices. A wide variety of spices and herbs are used in Indian cooking. The most commonly used spices are ginger, chilli powder, tamarind, coriander, turmeric, cumin, curry leaves, and garam masala, a spice mixture containing cardamom, black pepper, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cloves (Ferrucci et al., 2010)

Many of these ingredients have proven benefits to human health. They contain phytochemicals and other compounds that protect against inflammation, oxidative stress, genetic mutations, and various stages of cancer development (Bachmeier et al., 2008).

According to a study published by ‘Molecular Nutrition and Food Research’ – “Turmeric, a dried powder derived from the rhizome of Curcuma longa, has been used for centuries in certain parts of the world and has been linked to numerous biological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antigrowth, anti-arthritic, anti-atherosclerotic, antidepressant, anti-aging, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, wound healing, and memory-enhancing activities.”

Researchers in this field have identified that a key component of turmeric is curcumin, which has been extensively studied, as indicated by more than 5600 citations, most of which have appeared within the past decade.

Curcumin has been shown to be a potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimutagenic, anti-atherosclerotic, antimicrobial, antirheumatic, chemopreventive, and hepatoprotective chemical (Chattopadhya, 2004, Krishnaswamy, 2008).

The low bioavailability of curcumin has been noted in several studies (Ireson et al., 2002, Garcea et al. 2004, Lao et al., 2009). Two small studies have shown that piperine, an alkaloid from black pepper and long pepper, may increase the bioavailability of curcumin.

The science has identified that curcumin appears to be the key compound but it remains unclear whether all of the activities ascribed to turmeric are due to curcumin or whether other compounds in turmeric can manifest these activities uniquely, additively, or synergistically with curcumin.

In this article we take a look at the various studies shown in Google Scholar that cite turmeric in the treatment of cancers and offer this information to Principia Scientific International readers as a guide for further personal research.

Turmeric is widely used as a cooking spice in India. It is also used topically for skin conditions and wounds and as a health tonic. The low rates of most cancer types in India (Nandakumar et al., 2005, Rostogi et al., 2008). Researchers have increasingly seen a link between the higher consumption of spices in India and the lower average rate of incidences of cancers. Overall cancer rates are much lower in India than in western countries. In a report comparing cancer incidence rates among Indians residing in India, the US, the UK (Rostogi et al., 2008) those consuming the most spices have the lower cancer rates.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), a nutritional dietary spice from the Zingiberaceae family, has been extensively used for various applications. This rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant found abundantly in Asia is renowned for its cosmetic, culinary, color, and medicinal applications for centuries [4,5]

Turmerones

Turmerones are one of the major sesquiterpenes derived from turmeric. They are further classified as α-turmerone, ar-turmerone, and β-turmerone, and among them ar-turmerone has shown to possess more potency as an anticancer agent.

A study by Yue et al. explained that:

“turmerones restrain the proliferation of cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values ranging from 11.0 to 41.81 g/mL [33]. From this study it is clear that among turmerones, α-turmerone possess some anticancer activities.” [6]

Another study on Google Scholar shows that:

“the structural changes of ar-turmerone exhibits remarkable anticancer activities by the reduction of size at aromatic ring and their analog formation at the 6-position as observed by a decrease in effective dose-50% value (ED50) against lymphocytic leukemia (L1210) cell study.” [7]

Also identified, is another study which found:

“that changes in morphological characters in ar-turmerone triggered apoptosis in human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells in a concentration-dependent manner.”

In effect, all such studies reveal promising anticancer activities and that “Initial experiments indicated that turmeric extract and curcumin reduced the development of animal tumours.”  (see here)

Turmeric extract inhibited the cell growth in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells at a concentration of 0.4 mg/ml and was cytotoxic to lymphocytes and Dalton’s lymphoma cells at the same concentration.

But other natural compounds added with turmeric are also shown to be effective, too. The anti-cancer potential of a mix of natural extracts of turmeric, ginger and garlic was proven in a cell-based study. [8]

In their paper the authors tell us:

“Cancer related morbidity and mortality is a major health care concern. Developing potent anti-cancer therapies which are non-toxic, sustainable and affordable is of alternative medicine. This study was designed to investigate the aqueous natural extracts mixture (NE mix) prepared from common spices turmeric, ginger and garlic for its free radical scavenging potential and anti-cancer property against human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, ZR-75 and MDA-MB 231).”

The authors add:

“we have investigated the potential effect of conventional hormone therapy drug i.e. tamoxifen when supplemented with natural extracts mixture made from commonly used dietary spices in inducing cell death.”

In their findings the authors state that turmeric and related food components “could have potential in preventive medicine, can be widely acceptable and put into use with little effort… the natural extracts were found to have an enhanced effect when combined with Tamoxifen” [id.]

Dosage

In such studies, doses of 1125 to 8000mg of curcumin per day were shown to have effect on cancer progression. The admixture of black pepper and turmeric is shown to increase the effectiveness because of increased of increased bioavailability. [9]

If the promise of such natural extracts is realised for having cancer prevention potential, then preventive strategies based on the commonly used dietary sources will the future of an ideal regimen where treatments with fewer side effects could be implemented with ease. Moreover, the human system is adapted to these dietary ingredients and these natural extracts could be taken along-side conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy to augment their therapeutic potency.

[1] Huang, J.; Zhao, D.; Liu, Z.; Liu, F. Repurposing psychiatric drugs as anticancer agents. Cancer Lett. 2018, 419, 257–265. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[2] Sak, K. Chemotherapy and Dietary Phytochemical Agents. Chemother. Res. Pract. 2012, 2012, 282570. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[3] https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/curcumin-pdq

[4]Anand, P.; Sundaram, C.; Jhurani, S.; Kunnumakkara, A.B.; Aggarwal, B.B. Curcumin and cancer: An “old-age” disease with an “age-old” solution. Cancer Lett. 2008, 267, 133–164. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

[5] Attokaran, M. Natural Food Flavors and Colorants; John Wiley &Sons Inc.: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2011; pp. 391–398. [Google Scholar]

[6] https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/9/1/13/htm

[7] Oh, W.G.; Bail, K.U.; Jung, S.; Ahn, B.Z. The role of substituents of ar-turmerone for its anticancer activity. Arch. Pharm. Res. 1992, 15, 256–262. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

[8] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1016/j.ejbas.2017.07.005

[9] http://journal.waocp.org/article_26033_1b27ce1966fc5c5d034c7ea0d22f2363.pdf

About John O’Sullivan John is CEO and co-founder (with Dr Tim Ball) of Principia Scientific International (PSI).  John is a seasoned science writer and legal analyst who assisted Dr Ball in defeating world leading climate expert, Michael ‘hockey stick’ Mann in the ‘science trial of the century‘. O’Sullivan is credited as the visionary who formed the original ‘Slayers’ group of scientists in 2010 who then collaborated in creating the world’s first full-volume debunk of the greenhouse gas theory plus their new follow-up book.

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