Curcumin Slows Prostate Tumor GrowthCurcumin Slows Prostate Tumor Growth
February 10, 2012
PHILADELPHIACurcumin, an active component of turmeric, may help slow down tumor growth in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), according to a study from researchers at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center. Curcumin was found to suppress p300 and CPB, two nuclear receptor activators that help tumor cells bypass ADT, thus squashing the success of the therapy.
ADT aims to inhibit the androgen receptoran important male hormone in the development and progression of prostate cancerin patients.
For the study, prostate cancer cells were subjected to hormone deprivation in the presence and absence of curcumin with "physiologically attainable' doses. (Previous studies, which found similar results, included doses that were not realistic.)
Curcumin augments the results of ADT, and reduced cell number compared to ADT alone, the researchers found. The spice was also found to be a potent inhibitor of both cell cycle and survival in prostate cancer cells.
"This study sets the stage for further development of curcumin as a novel agent to target androgen receptor signaling," said Karen Knudsen, Ph.D., a Professor of Cancer Biology, Urology and Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University. "It also has implications beyond prostate cancer since p300 and CBP are important in other malignancies, like breast cancer. In tumors where these play an important function, curcumin may prove to be a promising therapeutic agent."
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