Curry Fights Prostate Cancer- New Study

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Curry Fights Prostate

Cancer - New Study

 

By Jennifer Harper

The Washington Times

1-18-6

 

Ladies, if you love your man, give him cauliflower curry with a side

of kale for dinner. It may stave off prostate cancer, according to

research released yesterday by Rutgers University.

Though they don't often make the favorite menus of most men,

cauliflower and kale -- along with cabbage, broccoli, brussels

sprouts, kohlrabi, watercress and turnips -- contain a chemical that

is a significant cancer-preventive.

But add curry powder to the mix, the researchers say, and the

vegetables and spice are effective in treating established prostate

cancers, the second-leading cause of cancer death in American men.

It all boils down to a pair of crucial chemicals that " hold real

potential for the treatment and prevention of prostate cancer, " the

Rutgers study stated. The vegetables contain phenethyl

isothiocyanate, or PEITC, while the curry contains curcumin, a yellow

pigment found in the spice itself.

Both are considered phytochemicals -- nonnutritive substances in

plants that have protective, antioxidant or anti-disease qualities.

" The bottom line is that PEITC and curcumin, alone or in

combination, demonstrate significant cancer-preventive qualities in

lab mice, and the combination of PEITC and curcumin could be

effective in treating established prostate cancers, " said Ah-Ng Kong, the study's lead author and a professor of pharmaceutics at

Rutgers.

Though a half-million new cases of prostate cancer occur in the

U.S. annually, incidence and death rates have not lessened despite

decades of research for treatments or a cure. Advanced cases of

prostate cancer cells are " barely responsive " to rigorous

chemotherapy or radiation treatment, Mr. Kong said.

He was inspired to investigate diet as a supplementary therapy

after noting that while prostate cancer is common in the U.S., the

disease is rare in India, where plant-based diets and curry are the

norm.

Curry itself has prompted other significant findings. Last year

alone, the University of Texas found it inhibited the growth of both

skin cancer and breast cancer cells, while the University of

California at Los Angeles found it stopped the spread of harmful

brain plaque in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Mr. Kong had previously found convincing evidence, he said, that

the two chemical compounds quelled prostate cancer cells grown in the

laboratory. He has since tested his theory on mice injected with the

cancer cells. Three times a week for a month, the test mice then

received injections of PEITC and curcumin.

Separately, the compounds " significantly retarded the growth of

cancerous tumors, " Mr. Kong noted. " Using PEITC and curcumin in

tandem produced even stronger effects. " The research team also

evaluated therapeutic potential of the compounds in mice with

advanced prostate cancer to find they " significantly reduced tumor

growth. "

The study was published by Cancer Research, a journal of the

Philadelphia-based American Association for Cancer Research.