Cancer Fighters in Your Spice Rack
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This article is from the Health Articles series.
Cancer Fighters in Your Spice Rack
Fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants and other cancer-fighting compounds have long been thought to curb one's cancer risk. It now appears that another group of foods--including turmeric (one of the major spices in curry powder), red grapes, rosemary, and green tea--has joined the ranks of these potent anticancer nutrients. Interestingly, these foods have properties resembling those of the COX-2 inhibitors--popular new arthritis drugs, such as Celebrex, that have been dubbed "superaspirins."
COX-2 inhibitor drugs, so-called because they block an enzyme called cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), are used to treat the pain and inflammation of arthritis. There is now compelling evidence that they may also protect against cancer. Mitch Gaynor, M.D., director of medical oncology at the Strang Cancer Prevention Center in New York, notes that suppressing COX-2 may be beneficial because, "the COX-2 enzyme helps make carcinogens much more active once they get into your body. The enzyme also allows cancerous cells to grow new blood vessels."
A recent study pinpointed the importance of COX-2 in colon cancer (Journal of the American Medical Association, 10/6/99). Colon tumors with the highest COX-2 levels were larger, more advanced, and more likely to have spread to the lymph nodes. By contrast, the enzyme was undetectable in colon tissue from cancer-free patients. High COX-2 levels appear to be fairly ubiquitous in tumors. Dr. Gaynor observes, "We found elevated COX-2 levels in just about every solid tumor we looked at, from lung cancer to breast, prostate, bladder, and colon cancer. We've also demonstrated that when you inhibit COX-2, the cancer cells stop growing." The COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex has been shown to strongly inhibit the development of colon cancer in animal studies. Several clinical trials are now under way to determine whether this and other COX-2 inhibitors have the same effects in people.
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