Asian spice kills cancer
The curcuma or turmeric can be used in anti-cancer nanoparticles, say scientists from USA.
According to the latest research, conducted jointly by the Nemours Children's Hospital and the University of Central Florida, the turmeric spice can be used to develop nanoparticles, leading to extensive death of cancer cells in brain and other organs.
“Unique approaches to target tumor cells with nanoparticle delivery systems hold promise for treatment of resistant tumors, such as the high risk neuroblastoma. We are hopeful that in the future, nanoparticles can be utilized to personalize care to patients and reduce the late effects of therapy”, said Tamarah Westmoreland, MD, PhD, a pediatric surgeon at Nemours Children’s Health System and senior author of the study.
The article, published in the British scientific journal “Nanoscale”, tells that curcuma, the usual spice obtained by grinding the rhizome of the Curcuma longa plant, contains molecule-killers of cancer cells. The only challenge is that these substances are insoluble in water, and therefore it is difficult to deliver them to a tumor site and distribute evenly across the cells.
The authors of the study had loaded the molecules of curcumin to the surface of nanoparticles of cerium oxide, capable to penetrate into cancer cells. These nanoparticles play two roles: they serve as delivery vehicle for curcumin to a cancer-affected cell, and stimulate the production of a large number of molecules that help the remedy to fight cancer.
The experiments have yielded positive results. All versions of nanoparticles with attached curcumin accelerated the death of cancer cells and inhibited the growth of the tumor.
The curcumin particles had proved themselves successfully on cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, killing them in a few hours.
