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Turmeric fights breast cancer in mice - study
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent Thu Jun 9, 4:19 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Turmeric, a yellow spice used widely in Indian cooking, may help stop the spread of cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
Tests in mice showed that curcumin, an active compound found in turmeric, helped stop the spread of breast cancer tumor cells to the lungs.
Tests have already started in people, too, said Bharat Aggarwal of the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who led the study.
"Here you don't need to worry about safety. The only thing we have to worry about is efficacy," Aggarwal said in a telephone interview.
"Curcumin, as you know, is very much an essential part of the Indian diet," he added.
"What's exciting about this agent is that it seems to have both chemopreventive and therapeutic properties. If we can demonstrate that it is efficacious in humans, it could be of tremendous value, but we're a long way from being able to make any recommendations yet," Aggarwal said.
Earlier research showed that curcumin, which acts as an antioxidant, can help prevent tumors from forming in the laboratory.
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No drug company is likely to develop a natural product that cannot be patented, he said. "There are no companies behind it so our only source of funding is either the National Institutes of Health or the Department of Defense, he said. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense's Breast Cancer Research Program.Aggarwal's team is also testing curcumin against pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/cancer_turmeric_dc