Turmeric, a natural born cancer killer...

Researchers at
UCLA's
Jonsson
Comprehensive
Cancer Centre have
found that
curcumin, the main
component in the
spice
turmeric,
suppresses a cell-
signalling pathway
in human saliva that
drives the growth of
head and neck
cancer.
The inhibition of the cell signalling
pathway was also correlated with
reduced expression of a number of
pro-inflammatory cytokines, or
signalling molecules, in the saliva
that promote cancer growth, said Dr.
Marilene Wang, senior author of the
study and a Jonsson Cancer Centre
researcher.
"This study shows that curcumin can
work in the mouths of patients with
head and neck malignancies and
reduce activities that promote
cancer growth," Wang said.
"And it not only affected the
cancer by inhibiting a critical cell signalling pathway, it also affected
the saliva itself by reducing pro-
inflammatory cytokines within the
saliva,"she added.
The study was published September
15 in Clinical Cancer Research, a
peer-reviewed journal of the
American Association of Cancer
Research .

Indian Herbs Can Fight Oral Cancer

A new research has
investigated the
potency of Indian
wild plants against
bacterial and fungal
infections in the
mouths of oral
cancer patients.
Researchers from
Rohtak, India, tested
extracts from several plants used in
traditional or folk medicine against
microbials found in the mouths of
oral cancer patients.
Of the 40 patients involved in the
study, 35 had compromised immune
systems with severely reduced
neutrophil counts. Eight of the
plants tested were able to
significantly affect the growth of
organisms collected by oral swab,
and pure cultures of bacteria and
fungi grown in the lab. This included
wild asparagus, desert date, false
daisy, curry tree,
caster oil plant
and
fenugreek.
"Natural medicines are increasingly
important in treating disease and
traditional knowledge provides a
starting point in the search for
plant-based medicines. Importantly
we found that the extraction process
had a huge effect on both the
specificity and efficacy of the
plant extracts against microbes,"
said Dr Jaya Parkash Yadav.
"Nevertheless several of the plants
tested were broad spectrum antibiotics able to combat bacteria
including E. coli, S. aureus and the
fungi Candida and Aspergillus. Both
desert date and caster oil plant were
especially able to target bacteria,
such as Pseudomonas
aeruginosa,
which are known to be difficult to
treat with conventional antibiotics,"
Yadav added.
"Although the plants tested had a
lower potency than conventional antibiotics they offer hope against
resistant species. These results are a
starting point for further testing in
the lab and clinic," added Yadav.
The study has been published by
BioMed Central's open access
journal Annals of Clinical
Microbiology and Antimicrobials.