Alternative Cancer Treatments:

Curcumin and Cancer

Megan Walker

Cancer
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the
United States
In 2014, 585,720 people died from cancer (1)
The body's immune system is responsible for
recognizing and killing abnormal cells before they
become cancerous. As we get older, our immune
systems are less able to fight infection and control cell
growth.
There are over 120 different types of cancer that a
person is susceptible to
How do you get cancer?
o Cancer can be hereditary, environmental , behavioral, poor diet and physical
activity like colon cancer or liver cancer

http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@research/documents/document/acspc-041775.pdf.

Types of Treatment
Chemotherapy
o Strong chemicals given through an IV or pill form

Radiation
o High-energy particles or waves, such as x-rays, gamma rays, electron
beams, or protons

Surgery
o Removes cancerous tissues
o Can be simple or complex
o Outpatient or inpatient

Target Therapy
o Blocks cancer growth
o Interferes with specific target molecules needed for carcinogenesis

Side Effects
Chemotherapy
o Nausea, vomiting, fatigue, throat or mouth sores, diarrhea, blood
disorders, weight loss, hair loss, or permanent nervous system damage

Radiation
o Fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea

Surgery
o Infection, complications, blood clots, and rarely death

What is alternative cancer

treatment?
An alternative cancer treatment is considered to
be any health treatment that has not yet been
approved by the FDA and has not yet been
accepted by mainstream medicine.

Research Question
Does the phenolic compound curcumin have
cancer healing properties?

Phenols
Phenols are chemicals that make up the active
substances in many plants and are responsible
for controlling the activity of enzymes and cell
receptors, protecting the plant from bacterial and
fungal infections and UV radiation damage
Since phenols have such good protective
properties and are high in antioxidants, they have
caught the attention of scientists and those in
search of good health.

Curcumin
Curcumin is found in one of the most traditional and versatile
of spices used in Indian cooking which is turmeric, and this
curcumin-containing spice is the heart and soul of any curry,
and it enhances and balances the flavors of all other
ingredients. It's included in a range of dishes, including those
featuring lentils, meats and vegetables.
Curcumin has been effective against many different types of
cancer so it is considered to be a broad spectrum medicine.
Research has also showed the curcumin can enhance the
body's immune system to recognize and destroy only cancer
cells, unlike chemotherapy which kills both, healthy and
unhealthy cells. Since curcumin only kills the unhealthy cells
and keeps the healthy cells that are needed to maintain health
in the body, harmful side effects do not occur.

Curcumin

How it is given as a treatment

Curcumin has an excellent safety profile, targeting
multiple diseases with strong evidence on the
molecular level, but could not achieve its optimum
therapeutic outcome in past clinical trials due to
its low solubility and poor bioavailability.
Fortunately, curcumin can now be developed as a
therapeutic drug through improvement in
formulation properties, allowing its greater
absorption and cellular uptake

Dosage
In a study performed in India, daily dosages of 1,200
2,100 mg of oral curcumin were given to patients for
two to six weeks and did not cause any toxicity
problems.(2) In another study of high-dose oral
curcumin gave a dosage of 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000,
and 8,000 mg of curcumin daily for three months to
patients and no noticeable adverse effects were
detected.(3) With that said, curcumin is a relatively safe
phenolic compound that has no side effects if taken
under 12,000 mg because the maximum tolerated
dose more than 12,000 mg of curcumin is regarded as
too bulky.

Deodhar, S.D , Indian J. Med. Res. 1980

Cheng, A.L, Anticancer Res. 2001

Research study #1

(4)

Breast cancer is the second most common

diagnosed cancer and second leading cause of
cancer death among women in the United States. A
study was done to determine the role of curcumin in
tumor growth in mouse models that were given
human breast cancer.
To test the effects of curcumin in mouse models of
breast cancer, researchers used complete fed mice
with curcumin. Based on the mice diet tables
reported in study that the mice assumed 25 mg a
day of curcumin.

Bimonte S, BioMed Research International. 2015

Conclusion/Results
The data showed that tumors of mice treated with
curcumin were smaller than those observed in the
controls, indicating that curcumin has an antitumor
effect on breast cancer cells.
Curcumin had an effect on the breast cancer cells in
as little as 48 hours.
At the end of the five week period, the control was
twice as big in volume compared to the mice
treated with curcumin
The tumor of the control was approximately
1600mm and tumor treated with curcumin was
approximately 800mm at the end of the five weeks.

 The picture represents the actual growth that was

taken out of the mice and as you can see the
control is double in size.

Bimonte S, BioMed Research International. 2015

Research study #2

(5)

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether

curcumincan reduce MMC-associated side-effects
and improve efficacy in a breast cancer xenograft
model
First, researchers determined the effectiveness of
combined MMC andcurcuminto inhibit cell growth
and to slow down or stop tumor outgrowth
Then they also evaluated the ability ofcurcuminto
alleviate MMC-associated side-effects by comparing
the levels of creatinine/blood urea nitrogen in serum
between animals receiving MMC alone and
MMC/curcumin

Zhou Q, European Journal of Cancer. 2011

Conclusion/Results
The results showed that curcuminsignificantly
sensitized cells to MMC-induced cell death. Qian-Mei,
the author of the study, says that, MMC
andcurcumintogether synergistically enhanced
apoptosis in breast cells. Most importantly, the
inclusion ofcurcuminin MMC treatment decreased
MMC-caused severe side-effects evidenced by
significant improvement in the kidney function. (9)
When adding curcumin to the MMC chemotherapy,
results showed that it greatly reduces chemotherapy
associated side-effects. Therefore, the combination
treatment of MMC andcurcuminmay be a significant
therapeutic benefit in treating breast cancer.

Further Research
The results of another study done very similar to
the one just discussed states that when the mice
receiving the BCSCs (Breast cancer stem cells)
developed sizable tumors, treatment of curcumin
or MMC alone reduced 5060% of the tumor
volume in 30 days. By contrast, the combined
treatment of curcumin and MMC caused a more
than 90% tumor volume reduction in 30 days.(6)
This shows strong evidence the curcumin is an
effective treatment against breast cancer.

Research study #3

(7)

Numerous studies have been conducted to

address the safety and efficacy of curcumin in
different types of cancer in human subjects. The
table shows examples of patients that were in a
clinical study who either had colorectal cancer,
breast cancer, pancreatic cancer or malignant
lesions and the effects of curcumin as a treatment
The table represents the phase of the cancer, the
dosage of curcumin that was given, and the
results. In the patients, the cancer either digressed
or remained stable for a long time concluding that
curcumin is effective in many types of cancer.

Zhou Q PLOS ONE. 2015

Conclusion
Curcumin is a means that is safe, affordable, and effective. Both
chemotherapy and radiation treatment, on the other hand, are so
toxic and damaging to the bodys immune system that they dont
allow for continual use. Actually, using chemotherapy or radiation
every day for months would kill the patient. Breaks in the
treatment are necessary to allow the patient to recover from the
treatment, and these breaks allow the cancer to recover and grow
back. Often the cancer grows back even more violently because
the immune system is so weak from the chemotherapy killing all of
the healthy white blood cells. This explains the vicious cycle in
conventional medicine of remission and recurrence until the
patient dies. A natural treatment is much more proficient than a
chemical treatment, radiation treatment, or surgery. Using an
alternative cancer treatment can become more important to
people with advanced cancer if their conventional treatment is no
longer controlling the cancer.

Significance
Since more and more research has been conducted
recently, it may catch the attention of more people
so someday curcumin as a cancer treatment may
be well-known
Also there will be more evidence supporting the
cancer healing properties in curcumin so it will be a
more likely means of treatment in the future
Since curcumin does not cause any side effects like
the conventional treatments, it can be given to
patients who are too weak to handle chemotherapy
or radiation therapy, or to any patient who doesnt
want any harmful side effects.

References

1. 2015. Available at:

http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@research/documents/document/acspc041775.pdf. Accessed November 7, 2015.
2. Deodhar, S.D.; Sethi, R.; Srimal, R.C. Preliminary study on anti-rheumatic activity of
curcumin (diferuloyl methane). Indian J. Med. Res. 1980, 71, 632-634.
3. Cheng, A.L.; B.R.;Ming-Shiang, W.; et al. Phase I clinical trial of curcumin, a
chemopreventive agent, in patientswith high-risk or pre-malignant lesions. Anticancer
Res. 2001, 21, 2895-2900.
4. Bimonte S, Barbieri A, Palma G et al. Dissecting the Role of Curcumin in Tumour
Growth and Angiogenesis in Mouse Model of Human Breast Cancer. BioMed Research
International. 2015;2015:1-7
5. Zhou Q, Wang X, Liu X et al. Curcumin improves MMC-based chemotherapy by
simultaneously sensitising cancer cells to MMC and reducing MMC-associated sideeffects. European Journal of Cancer. 2011;47
6. Yallapu M, Khan S, Maher D et al. Anti-cancer activity of curcumin loaded
nanoparticles in prostate cancer. Biomaterials. 2014;35.
7. Zhou Q, Ye M, Lu Y et al. Curcumin Improves the Tumoricidal Effect of Mitomycin C
by Suppressing ABCG2 Expression in Stem Cell-Like Breast Cancer Cells. PLOS ONE.
2015;10