Posted By:
NatureMed Oncology
Category:
Integrative Cancer Support
Dr. Kirsten West, RND, ND, LAc, FABNO has recently co-authored an article about Treating Cancer with Curcumin. Below you can read the abstract and view the complete article in PDF format. Abstract Oncologists tend to avoid the use of supplements during chemotherapy. To understand the safety issue, a literature review was conducted to evaluate the safety and possible benefits of taking curcumin during chemotherapy. Curcumin was chosen because of its wide use in the public and because of the availability of clinical trials utilizing curcumin during chemotherapy. Curcumin is considered a “pan-assay interference compound,” creating false leads in drug discovery assays. The pharmacodynamics of curcumin presents many challenges for a therapeutic agent, including poor bioavailability and rapid q metabolism and excretion. The proposed molecular targets for curcumin include inhibition of nuclear factor kappa B and inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2. Clinical trials investigating the efficacy of curcumin treatment for cancer have been conducted in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma, lung cancer, and head and neck cancer. Outcomes revealed that while curcumin was not effective, it was well tolerated and safe. Recently, there have been several Phase I and Phase II trials combining curcumin with chemotherapeutic agents. Two trials investigated the...