 MOLECULES found in a curry spice have been shown to kill oesophageal cancer cells in the laboratory, reveals research published in the British Journal of Cancer today (Wednesday).
Scientists at the Cork Cancer Research Centre, UCC, treated oesophageal cancer cells with curcumin** – a chemical found in the curry spice tumeric. They found that curcumin started to kill cancer cells within 24 hours. The cells also began to digest themselves. The results additionally showed that curcumin kills cells by triggering lethal cell death signals.
“These exciting results suggest that scientists could develop curcumin as a potential anti-cancer drug to treat oesophageal cancer,” says Dr. Sharon McKenna, lead study author at the Cork Cancer Research Centre, UCC.
“Scientists have known for a long time that natural compounds have the potential to treat faulty cells that have become cancerous and we suspected that curcumin might have therapeutic value. Dr. Geraldine O’Sullivan-Coyne, a medical researcher in our lab had been looking for new ways of killing resistant oesophageal cancer cells. She tested curcurmin on resistant cells and found that they started to die using an unexpected system of cell messages.”
Normally, faulty cells die by committing programmed suicide – or apoptosis – which occurs when proteins called caspases are ‘switched on’ in cells. But these cells showed no evidence of suicide and the addition of a molecule that inhibits caspases and stops this ‘switch being flicked’, made no difference to the number of cells which died. This suggested that curcumin attacked the cancer cells using an alternative cell signalling system.
 Each year around 350 people are diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in Ireland (7,800 in the UK). Less than 20 per cent of people survive oesophageal cancer beyond five years. It is the seventh most common cause of cancer death and accounts for around four per cent of all Irish cancer deaths.
According to Professor Gerald O’Sullivan, Director of the Cork Cancer Research Centre at UCC, the research opens up the possibility that natural chemicals found in tumeric could be developed into new treatments for oesophageal cancer.
“The incidence of oesophageal cancer has gone up by more than a half since the 70s, particularly in the Western world and this is thought to be linked to rising rates of obesity, alcohol intake and reflux disease, so finding ways to both treat and prevent this disease is extremely important. The development of natural compounds as chemo-preventative agents is also a very promising area of research”.
Ends
Dr. Sharon McKenna is a Principal Investigator at the Cork Cancer Research Centre at UCC in Cork. She is responsible for the direction and supervision of projects that are investigating new ways of killing various types of cancer cells.
Dr. Geraldine O’Sullivan Coyne undertook the research for her Ph.D at the Cork Cancer Research Centre and is now working in Medical Oncology at UniversityHospitalGalway.
Notes to Editors:
*Curcumin indices apoptosis-independent death in oesophageal cancer cells. British Journal of Cancer.
**Also called diferuloylmethane
British Journal of Cancer (BJC)
The BJC is owned by Cancer Research UK. Its mission is to encourage communication of the very best cancer research from laboratories and clinics in all countries. Broad coverage, its editorial independence and consistent high standards have made BJC one of the world's premier general cancer journals. www.bjcancer.com.
Additional Notes on CCRC:
The Cork Cancer Research Centre (CCRC) at University College Cork is a multidisciplinary organisation that investigates major issues that concern the genesis, progression or treatment of cancer. Its purpose is to provide discovery and innovations that may be applied to the prevention of the cancer in the first place or to the development of more effective treatment strategies.
Since its inception in 1999, Cork Cancer Research Centre has been a leading force in developing new treatments for cancer patients that provide tangible benefits to those most in need of breakthroughs. Current research at the Centre is solving the critical challenge of secondary cancer and is directed at three research themes: Cell Death and Survival Mechanisms, Novel Therapeutics and related Devices and Gene Therapy. Cork Cancer Research Centre has also developed significant programmes in Prevention and Education.
The progress and success at the Centre has been through the scientific and personal initiatives that the CCRC has established with groups throughout the world. Vital to our success has been the core structure upon which multidisciplinary programmes are built. This approach ensures that we take the latest findings from clinical practice to the laboratory to focus our research. We then bring the latest research breakthroughs to the clinicians to apply our findings. The research work carried out at the Centre has already translated into five unique clinical studies.
From our modest beginnings with only two employees, the Centre has rapidly expanded in both size and significance, while never forgetting the central tenet of our task: To advance new cancer treatments through research. This continues to be our mission.
CCRC staff are located in laboratories and offices at the Mercy University Hospital and the Leslie C. Quick Jr. Laboratory, Biosciences Institute, UCC. Funds for the Centre are generated through research grants, voluntary fundraising efforts and private donations.
|
