Curcumin Starves Cancer Cells to Death - by Life Extension

Cancer cells require tremendous energy to promote their rapid growth. A new study shows how curcumin can selectively starve tumor cells.

Winter 2018-2019 Special Edition

By Kirk Stokel

(Previously published here on 7 October 2019)

Over 4,500 published studies describe the anti-cancer effects of curcumin.

Researchers are intrigued by a promising discovery that curcumin selectively starves tumor cells to death.1

Curcumin does this by depriving cancer cells of the ability to make and use ATP, the energy currency within cells.2

Since most cancer cells generate ATP in a different way than healthy cells, curcumin selectively kills tumor cells with no impact on healthy tissues.

These newly uncovered energy-disrupting properties of curcumin further support the preventive potential of this botanical compound.

Cutting Cancer’s Energy Supply

Cancer cells require tremendous energy to promote their rapid, uncontrolled growth, and they have developed numerous methods to support that energy demand.

In particular, cancer cells have an unusual, oxygen-free mechanism of extracting energy from glucose to produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate). This process helps most cancer cells survive in the low-oxygen environments they generate as they grow rapidly.2

Scientists conducted a study to determine if this process can be reversed in cancer cells.

Since many different types of cancer use the same metabolic trick to extract energy, the researchers studied curcumin’s impact on a variety of tumor lines, including leukemia, breast, melanoma (skin), and colon cancers.2

This study shed new light on curcumin’s ability to starve cancer into submission by interfering with how tumors cells use energy.

Let’s look at the findings one at a time.

Curcumin Blocks ATP Production

First, the researchers found that curcumin can sharply reduce how much energy is available to the cancer cells.2

This study showed that curcumin was able to:

1) Reduce levels of ATP-synthase (the enzyme that creates ATP) in all four tumor cell lines in culture,

2) Reduce cellular levels of ATP in three of the four cell lines, and

3) Lower the ratio of high-energy ATP to lower-energy AMP in all four cell lines.

Curcumin Slows Tumor Growth

Next, researchers implanted aggressive skin cancer (melanoma) cells into live mice. Half the mice were treated with curcumin and the other half served as the control group.2

Just 2 days into the study, the curcumin-treated mice were demonstrating significantly slower tumor growth. Tumor growth remained significantly slower for the entire period of the study.

Not surprisingly, ATP-synthase, ATP levels, and the ATP/AMP ratio were all significantly lowered in the curcumin group. These results indicate that energy starvation was a mechanism of action by which curcumin slowed tumor growth.

Curcumin Prevents New Blood Vessel Growth

Cancers need to trigger new blood vessel development (called angiogenesis) to support their nutrient needs as they rapidly grow. Blocking this process is an important way to limit the growth and spread of a tumor.

After removing tumors from the mice in this study, the researchers found that the curcumin-supplemented animals’ tumors had fewer new blood vessels compared with control-fed mice.

This indicates that curcumin reduced the tumors nutrient energy access by limiting blood flow.2

Curcumin’s Known Tumor-Fighting Properties

This most recent study adds to an abundance of evidence pointing to curcumin’s potent cancer-fighting abilities. It focuses on curcumin’s unique ability to combat a variety of cancers by cutting off their energy supply.

Previous studies have shown curcumin’s tumor-fighting properties in multiple specific types of cancer. Here are some highlights from the most recent literature.

Colorectal Cancer

Cancers of the colon and rectum are among the most common malignancies in men and women. Curcumin has a long track record of achievements in preventing colorectal cancers.

A Phase IIa human clinical trial has shown that 4 grams/day of curcumin significantly reduces the number of aberrant crypt foci found during endoscopy. This is a critical finding because if aberrant crypt foci are left untreated, they can produce malignant tumors.3

Weight loss is common in cancer patients. A human study showed that colon cancer patients who were supplemented with curcumin gained more weight, had less inflammation, and had increased numbers of cancer cells dying by apoptosis.4 This effect has been traced to curcumin’s ability to activate a “programmed cell death” gene in tumor cells.

Finally, curcumin has been shown to selectively reduce the survival of cancer stem cells.5 These cells account for much of the metastatic spread and tumor recurrences seen in aggressive malignancies. Cutting their numbers is an appealing approach to preventing tumors from spreading.

While a high-dose (4,000 mg) of curcumin was used in this study, more bioavailable curcumin forms can enable one to achieve a similar dose with two capsules a day.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Curcumin Starves Cancer Cells to Death

• Curcumin is a powerful, multi-functional polyphenol that is gaining increasing recognition for its cancer chemopreventive properties.
• A new study shows that curcumin sharply restricts cancer cells’ ability to extract energy from glucose in the blood.
• This mechanism is especially appealing for cancer chemoprevention because it would target the great majority of cancers.
• Previous studies also show that curcumin can reduce inflammation, prevent chemical stress, shut down cancer-promoting pathways, and interfere with malignant cells’ growth and development.
• These multiple mechanisms of action make it clear that curcumin should be a central element of any comprehensive cancer chemoprevention regimen.

Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, and it’s the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women worldwide.6,7

Curcumin has shown promise in combatting breast cancer. This is especially true of estrogen receptor-negative tumors, which respond poorly to cancer chemotherapy.6

Studies show that giving curcumin to animals with implanted human breast cancers shrinks the tumors, deprives them of their blood supply, and triggers their self-destruction by apoptosis.6,8

More recently, research revealed that curcumin can also combat breast cancer by reversing the excessive methylation of certain genes that is associated with increased cancer development.9

Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer strikes one in nine American men, yet is among the most preventable cancers because of its slow growth.10

Curcumin has multiple actions against prostate cancer. It defends prostate cells against the dysfunctional proteins produced during cancer progression. It also slows invasion of nearby healthy tissue by the cancer, which helps to keep the tumor at a lower grade (meaning it grows more slowly and has a better prognosis).11-13

One study showed that when human prostate cells were implanted into mice, they grew into sizable tumors. But when these animals were supplemented with curcumin, the tumors grew 27% more slowly. In addition, the time it took to double levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) was extended or delayed by about two-fold.14 (Doubling time is an indicator of how aggressive the cancer is.)

Curcumin can also reduce tumor-derived testosterone production in prostate cancer cells.15 This is a hidden source of male hormones that often contributes to treatment-resistant disease.16 This development offers a welcome new approach to treating these challenging tumors.

Liver Cancer

Liver cancer is increasing in incidence worldwide, spurred by epidemic hepatitis C virus and rampant fatty liver disease.17 

In lab studies, curcumin was shown to help prevent liver cancer by reducing inflammatory signaling, inhibiting cell growth, and activating cell death by apoptosis.18-20 It has also been shown to reduce populations of liver cancer stem cells.19,21

In one study, curcumin inhibited the growth of liver cancer cells, while also promoting their death by apoptosis. And in a mouse model of liver cancer, treatment with curcumin caused the tumors to grow much more slowly.22

And, in an exciting development, a study published in 2018 showed that when curcumin is combined with the AMPK-activator drug metformin, the combination worked better than either alone in preventing growth, metastasis, and new blood vessel formation in hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common—and most deadly—type of liver cancer.23

Lung Cancer

A new study shows that
curcumin sharply restricts
cancer cells’ ability to
extract energy from
glucose in the blood.

Lung cancer continues to be the top cause of cancer-related deaths, making it a huge priority for prevention.24,25

An abundance of animal and basic lab studies show curcumin’s potential against lung cancer.

For example, curcumin has been shown to reduce the growth of implanted human lung cancers in mice.26  Lab studies on lung cancer show that curcumin alters proteins required for metastasis, boosting the function of immune cells that are inactivated by cancers, and targeting blood vessel growth.24,26,27

A unique way in which curcumin combats lung cancer is by modulating microRNA inside cancer cells.28-30 These short stretches of genetic material regulate how the main genes in tumor cells are translated into functional proteins.

Studies reveal that curcumin inhibits lung cancer cell growth by downregulating a gene that promotes tumor formation, while upregulating genes that suppress transformation.28 Other research shows similar favorable modulation of miRNAs involved in metastatic spread.30

Summary

Curcumin is the polyphenol that gives the yellow color to the spice turmeric. It has been front and center in the scientific press for years—mostly recognized for its ability to suppress inflammation.2,31,32

Curcumin has also been shown to prevent cancer progression through a variety of mechanisms. Most recently, a study found that curcumin starves cancer cells of much-needed energy.

This mechanism is especially appealing for cancer prevention because it would target the great majority of cancers.

This confirms previous studies showing that curcumin has specific effects against colorectal, breast, prostate, lung, and liver cancers.

Starving malignant cells of their energy supply is an ideal way of boosting our bodies’ natural cancer resistance, helping it quench cancer long before a tumor is detectable.

If you have any questions on the scientific content of this article, please call a Life Extension® Wellness Specialist at 1-866-864-3027.

References

1. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=curcumin+and+cancer. Accessed September 21, 2018.
2. Bianchi G, Ravera S, Traverso C, et al. Curcumin induces a fatal energetic impairment in tumor cells in vitro and in vivo by inhibiting ATP-synthase activity. Carcinogenesis. 2018 Sep 21;39(9):1141-50.
3. Carroll RE, Benya RV, Turgeon DK, et al. Phase IIa clinical trial of curcumin for the prevention of colorectal neoplasia. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2011 Mar;4(3):354-64.
4. He ZY, Shi CB, Wen H, et al. Upregulation of p53 expression in patients with colorectal cancer by administration of curcumin. Cancer Invest. 2011 Mar;29(3):208-13.
5. James MI, Iwuji C, Irving G, et al. Curcumin inhibits cancer stem cell phenotypes in ex vivo models of colorectal liver metastases, and is clinically safe and tolerable in combination with FOLFOX chemotherapy. Cancer Lett. 2015 Aug 10;364(2):135-41.
6. Bimonte S, Barbieri A, Palma G, et al. Dissecting the role of curcumin in tumour growth and angiogenesis in mouse model of human breast cancer. Biomed Res Int. 2015;2015:878134.
7. Wang Y, Yu J, Cui R, et al. Curcumin in Treating Breast Cancer: A Review. J Lab Autom. 2016 Dec;21(6):723-31.
8. Ferreira LC, Arbab AS, Jardim-Perassi BV, et al. Effect of Curcumin on Pro-angiogenic Factors in the Xenograft Model of Breast Cancer. Anticancer Agents Med Chem. 2015;15(10):1285-96.
9. Kumar U, Sharma U, Rathi G. Reversal of hypermethylation and reactivation of glutathione S-transferase pi 1 gene by curcumin in breast cancer cell line. Tumour Biol. 2017 Feb;39(2):1010428317692258.
10. Available at: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostate-cancer/about/key-statistics.html. Accessed September 24, 2018.
11. Sundram V, Chauhan SC, Ebeling M, et al. Curcumin attenuates beta-catenin signaling in prostate cancer cells through activation of protein kinase D1. PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e35368.
12. Liu T, Chi H, Chen J, et al. Curcumin suppresses proliferation and in vitro invasion of human prostate cancer stem cells by ceRNA effect of miR-145 and lncRNA-ROR. Gene. 2017 Oct 5;631:29-38.
13. Yang J, Wang C, Zhang Z, et al. Curcumin inhibits the survival and metastasis of prostate cancer cells via the Notch-1 signaling pathway. APMIS. 2017 Feb;125(2):134-40.
14. Hong JH, Lee G, Choi HY. Effect of curcumin on the interaction between androgen receptor and Wnt/beta-catenin in LNCaP xenografts. Korean J Urol. 2015 Sep;56(9):656-65.
15. Ide H, Lu Y, Noguchi T, et al. Modulation of AKR1C2 by curcumin decreases testosterone production in prostate cancer. Cancer Sci. 2018 Apr;109(4):1230-8.
16. Armandari I, Hamid AR, Verhaegh G, et al. Intratumoral steroidogenesis in castration-resistant prostate cancer: a target for therapy. Prostate Int. 2014 Sep;2(3):105-13.
17. Global Burden of Disease Liver Cancer C, Akinyemiju T, Abera S, et al. The Burden of Primary Liver Cancer and Underlying Etiologies From 1990 to 2015 at the Global, Regional, and National Level: Results From the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. JAMA Oncol. 2017 Dec 1;3(12):1683-91.
18. Dai XZ, Yin HT, Sun LF, et al. Potential therapeutic efficacy of curcumin in liver cancer. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2013;14(6):3855-9.
19. Marquardt JU, Gomez-Quiroz L, Arreguin Camacho LO, et al. Curcumin effectively inhibits oncogenic NF-kappaB signaling and restrains stemness features in liver cancer. J Hepatol. 2015 Sep;63(3):661-9.
20. Elmansi AM, El-Karef AA, Shishtawy M, et al. Hepatoprotective Effect of Curcumin on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Through Autophagic and Apoptic Pathways. Ann Hepatol. 2017 Jul-Aug;16(4):607-18.
21. Tsai CF, Hsieh TH, Lee JN, et al. Curcumin Suppresses Phthalate-Induced Metastasis and the Proportion of Cancer Stem Cell (CSC)-like Cells via the Inhibition of AhR/ERK/SK1 Signaling in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. J Agric Food Chem. 2015 Dec 9;63(48):10388-98.
22. Pan Z, Zhuang J, Ji C, et al. Curcumin inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma growth by targeting VEGF expression. Oncol Lett. 2018 Apr;15(4):4821-6.
23. Zhang HH, Zhang Y, Cheng YN, et al. Metformin incombination with curcumin inhibits the growth, metastasis, and angiogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro and in vivo. Mol Carcinog. 2018 Jan;57(1):44-56.
24. Liu D, You M, Xu Y, et al. Inhibition of curcumin on myeloid-derived suppressor cells is requisite for controlling lung cancer. Int Immunopharmacol. 2016 Oct;39:265-72.
25. Available at: https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/facts-and-figures-2018-rate-of-deaths-from-cancer-continues-decline.html. Accessed September 24, 2018.
26. Chen QY, Jiao DM, Yao QH, et al. Expression analysis of Cdc42 in lung cancer and modulation of its expression by curcumin in lung cancer cell lines. Int J Oncol. 2012 May;40(5):1561-8.
27. Xu X, Zhu Y. Curcumin inhibits human non-small cell lung cancer xenografts by targeting STAT3 pathway. Am J Transl Res. 2017;9(8):3633-41.
28. Lelli D, Pedone C, Majeed M, et al. Curcumin and Lung Cancer: the Role of microRNAs. Curr Pharm Des. 2017;23(23):3440-4.
29. Liu WL, Chang JM, Chong IW, et al. Curcumin Inhibits LIN-28A through the Activation of miRNA-98 in the Lung Cancer Cell Line A549. Molecules. 2017 Jun 3;22(6).
30. Zhan JW, Jiao DM, Wang Y, et al. Integrated microRNA and gene expression profiling reveals the crucial miRNAs in curcumin anti-lung cancer cell invasion. Thorac Cancer. 2017 Sep;8(5):461-70.
31. Chadalapaka G, Jutooru I, Chintharlapalli S, et al. Curcumin decreases specificity protein expression in bladder cancer cells. Cancer Res. 2008 Jul 1;68(13):5345-54.
32. Kelany ME, Hakami TM, Omar AH. Curcumin improves the metabolic syndrome in high-fructose-diet-fed rats: role of TNF-alpha, NF-kappaB, and oxidative stress. Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2017 Feb;95(2):140-50.

New basic understanding of how lung cancer spreads: antioxidants implicated

Date:

June 27, 2019

Source:

Karolinska Institutet

Summary:

Lung cancer cells use antioxidants, endogenous or dietary, to spread in the body by activating a protein called BACH1 and increasing the uptake and use of sugar, researchers report in two independent studies. The studies pave the way for new therapeutic strategies for lung cancer.

FULL STORY

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Lung cancer cells use antioxidants, endogenous or dietary, to spread in the body by activating a protein called BACH1 and increasing the uptake and use of sugar, Swedish and American researchers report in two independent studies. The studies, which are published in the eminent scientific journal Cell, pave the way for new therapeutic strategies for lung cancer.

It is a known fact that cancer cells, owing to their special metabolism, are exposed to oxidative stress caused by free oxygen radicals. It is also well-known that cancer cells are characterised by the high uptake and use of glucose, or sugar, and that this is one of many factors that govern their ability to divide and metastasise. Studying mice and human tissue, two independent research teams have now discovered how these circumstances interact when cancer cells metastasise to other parts of the body.

The process begins when the cancer cells manage to reduce their oxidative stress, which can happen in one of two ways: the cancer cells can either obtain antioxidants, such as vitamins A, C or E, from the diet, or synthesise their own. In about one in every three cases of lung cancer, the tumour cells have special mutations, linked to the NRF2 and KEAP1 genes, which enable them to start producing their own antioxidants.

It is when the oxidative stress has subsided that the fundamental process of the new discovery occurs: the protein BACH1 is stabilised and accumulates in the cancer cells. This protein presses several start buttons in the cancer cell which stimulates metastasis mechanisms, including one that orders the cancer cell to increase both the metabolism of glucose into cell fuel and lactic acid, and the stockpiling of glucose from the blood stream. The higher rate of glucose use then greatly boosts the ability of the cancer cells to spread.

"There is nothing to suggest, however, that the amount of glucose in the blood has anything to do with this; rather, it is the tumour cells' ability to utilise glucose that is essential to the accelerating metastasis," says Martin Bergo, professor at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition at Karolinska Institutet, who led the Swedish study.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The most life-threatening aspect of lung cancer is metastasis.

"We now have important new information on lung cancer metastasis, making it possible for us to develop new treatments, such as ones based on inhibiting BACH1," says Professor Bergo. "In this present study, we show that the aggressive metastasising induced by antioxidants can be blocked by stopping the production of BACH1 or by using drugs that suppress the breakdown of sugar. Our American colleagues show how inhibiting another enzyme, heme oxygenase, which is linked to BACH1, can also curb the metastasis process."

Professor Bergo and his Swedish colleagues have previously shown that antioxidants, such as vitamin E, in dietary supplement doses accelerate tumour growth. When the first studies to show this were presented in 2014 they drew a great deal of media attention and sparked a fierce debate, since it was generally believed that antioxidant supplements had beneficial effects on cancer. What the researchers have done now is to explain how antioxidants go about expediting the course of the disease -- specifically, in the case of the present study, lung cancer.

"This is one of the most exciting findings we've made," says Volkan Sayin, assistant professor at the Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Gothenburg, and co-corresponding author. "Our results also provide a new explanation for how the so-called Warburg effect is activated. The Warburg effect describes how cancer cells absorb sugar and convert it into energy and lactic acid under normal aerobic conditions. Since this is one of the most well-known hallmarks of cancer, our results provide a crucial new piece in the oncological puzzle."

The Swedish study was conducted at Karolinska Institutet and Gothenburg University, whereas the American study was conducted at New York University. The pair of studies, as well as a "Preview" commenting on the new findings, are published at the same time in the journal Cell.

The Swedish study was financed with grants from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Sjöberg Foundation, StratCan (the strategic research programme in cancer at Karolinska Institutet), CIMED (the Centre for Innovative Medicine at Karolinska Institutet), the Swedish Cancer Society, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Society for Medical Research, the Wallenberg Center for Molecular and Translational Medicine, and the Alex and Eva Wallström Foundation.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by Karolinska Institutet. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal References:

1. Clotilde Wiel, Kristell Le Gal, Mohamed X. Ibrahim, Chowdhury Arif Jahangir, Muhammad Kashif, Haidong Yao, Dorian V. Ziegler, Xiufeng Xu, Tanushree Ghosh, Tanmoy Mondal, Chandrasekhar Kanduri, Per Lindahl, Volkan I. Sayin, Martin O. Bergo. BACH1 Stabilization by Antioxidants Stimulates Lung Cancer Metastasis. Cell, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.06.005
2. Luca Lignitto, Sarah E. LeBoeuf, Harrison Homer, Shaowen Jiang, Manor Askenazi, Triantafyllia R. Karakousi, Harvey I. Pass, Arjun J. Bhutkar, Aristotelis Tsirigos, Beatrix Ueberheide, Volkan I. Sayin, Thales Papagiannakopoulos, Michele Pagano. Nrf2 Activation Promotes Lung Cancer Metastasis by Inhibiting the Degradation of Bach1. Cell, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.06.003

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Keto in the Land of the Rising Sun

We join Yuka Muranaka and Dr. Tetsuo Muneta in our Eastern Medicine documentary to discuss the ketogenic diet and its potential as…

By Ty & Charlene Bollinger
June 4, 2019

Video Transcript: Keto in the Land of the Rising Sun | Clip from Episode 1 of Eastern Medicine: Journey through ASIA

Yuka Muranaka: Two years ago, I was diagnosed with uterine cancer sarcoma, a very aggressive type of cancer. I decided to have surgery and have my uterus removed, but since the cancer was very aggressive, the doctor recommended that I have chemotherapy as well.

I took one round of chemotherapy, but it caused an allergic reaction, so I stopped after one round and took no more chemo. Chemotherapy was very painful, and I didn’t like it. I had to apologize to my body because I had put toxic poison into my body.

My family was very worried about me, and they wanted me to take more chemotherapy because they believe in that medicine. I declined all other forms of conventional treatments and medications. Then I decided to come to this Cancer Control Society convention to discover other ways. This was two years ago. I tried the macrobiotic diet, but it didn’t work. Then I began to eat a ketogenic diet with healthy meats, vegetables, and good oils. I have been doing this for the past 2 years, with no sugar and low salt.

Two years ago, I was diagnosed with uterine cancer sarcoma, a very aggressive type of cancer. I feel very strong now! I am very athletic naturally, and I really love sports and exercising, like aikido and like jogging. After 6 months on the ketogenic diet, my skin became vibrant, and my hair (which fell out from chemo) grew back. I’m very happy. My family now admits that I was right!

Ty Bollinger: You were right. That’s awesome. Well, that’s good, it’s a great story. Thank you for sharing your cancer story, and I’m so glad that you’re doing well. You look great. I can tell you’re healthy and I’m glad that your family now thinks you’re right, because clearly, you’ve done something right. So, thank you so much. Yuka utilized the ketogenic diet to treat her advanced cancer.

Dr. Tetsuo Muneta: Ketone bodies are made of fat. If you consume a lot of sugar or grains, ketone bodies will not be produced. But if you decrease sugar intake, and have a low-carbohydrate diet, ketone bodies will be produced in your body. On the ketogenic diet, your diet should consist of lots of good fats, meat, eggs, and cheese. Some examples of “good fats” are saturated fats from animal sources and coconut oil, which contain MCTs, which are medium-chain triglycerides.

These are appropriate fats for the ketogenic diet. The advantage of the ketogenic diet is that the energy source is not sugar, so it starves cancer cells, while at the same time, giving energy to normal cells. This is why the ketogenic diet works for cancer. The mitochondria are the “energy generators” for the cells in our body, and they can use sugar or fat for energy.

However, in cancer cells, we typically see damaged mitochondria and/or inactive mitochondria. As a result of damaged or inactive mitochondria in the cancer cells, they begin fermenting sugar, called glycolysis, and they are not able to utilize the ketone bodies for energy. Cancer cells cannot live without sugar to provide energy.

Thus, the ketogenic diet works by reducing sugar intake and starving the cancer cells to death. If I were diagnosed with cancer, I would utilize the ketogenic diet. I already eat a “loose” ketogenic diet, but then I would work on it even harder and be even more strict.

https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/keto-and-cancer-treatment/

Graviola tree and paw paw treatments

Theory Behind How It Works

These products come from trees in the tropical areas of South and North America. Paw Paw is claimed to work by blocking ATP production and thus reduce the voltage of the cancer cell to the point it falls apart (apoptosis or programmed cell death). Because Paw Paw and graviola are cousins, it is assumed that they work utilized the same mechanism.  They are also claimed to build the immune system.

Cancer Tutor TeamUpdated June 11, 2019

Scientists with the Tepic Institute of Technology (Instituto Tecnológico de Tepic – ITT) in Mexico discovered acetogenins, a compound in the fruit with incredible chemotherapeutic properties.

The researchers with ITT are studying soursop in an effort to find more anti-cancer foods that are readily available in Mexico due to the steadily rising cases of cancer among their population.

Team leader, Montalvo González, explained, “We focus on acetogenins compounds because in Mexico, cancer is a disease that is increasing among the population and scientific research shows that the compounds found in this fruit can encapsulate tumors, but this depends on the [ how much is] amount consumed.” (1)

In an assessment of Graviola, published in the December 2008 issue of the “Journal of Dietary Supplements” by U.S. researchers Lana Dvorkin-Camiel and Julia S. Whelan, multiple in-vitro studies determined that Graviola is effective against various microbial and parasitic agents. Graviola displayed specific effectiveness on parasites Leishmania braziliensis, Leishmania panamensis, Nippostrongylus braziliensis, Artemia salina and Trichomonas vaginalis, as well as against the Herpes simplex virus.

As it relates directly to cancer, cell and animal research demonstrates that Graviola may be an anti-cancer agent. However, no human clinical trials have been performed as of yet. According to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, MSKCC, Graviola extract proved to be effective against liver cancer and breast cancer cells. Naturopath Leslie Taylor, author of “The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs,” notes that studies show Graviola has an inhibitory effect on enzyme processes in some cancer cell membranes. Graviola only affected cancer cell membranes and not those of healthy cells. This research may lend support to the herb’s traditional use against cancer. (2)

Theory: This protocol claims to kill the microbes inside the cancer cells, they allow more of the glucose to be converted to pyruvate and thus more ATP energy is created inside the cancer cells.

Graviola Tree and Paw Paw Tree Theory

This is one of those treatments for cancer that is fairly new, meaning it has only recently found its way onto the internet. Nevertheless, there have been a lot of scientific studies on these two products. (3) At the current time most of the articles for Graviola and cancer come from a single source – the Health Sciences Institute (see the links below), though there are a growing number of independent articles.

Graviola is sometimes called “Brazilian Paw Paw,” which can cause some confusion. (4)

Paw Paw is reported to be  more powerful than graviola when treating cancer, (5, 6) if the quality of the processing is comparable. Graviola only has single ring compounds, while the Paw Paw's acetogenins have several double ring compounds (e.g. bullatacin) which makes Paw Paw much more powerful.

Paw Paw works (and this seems to apply to  graviola as well) by slowing down or stopping the production of ATP. This in turn lowers the voltage of the cell. For normal cells, there is plenty of ATP, thus lowering the level of ATP has no effect on the cell. However, with cancer cells, due to the way they create energy (by fermentation), ATP is far more critical. (5, 6)

When the ATP level, and the energy of the cell level, drops to a critical level the cell falls apart. The residual pieces of the dead cancer cell are called “lysing” and I assume are similar to other apoptosis (programmed cell death) killed cells. If that is the case, then part of the lysing is literally “eaten” by other cells (called: phagocytosis).

Technical Information

Graviola, like its cousin Paw Paw, is claimed to greatly enhance the effectiveness of another alternative cancer treatment – Protocel. However, generally it is recommended that Protocel not be taken with graviola or Paw Paw.

Protocel Article

Paw Paw has been reported to kill multiple-drug resistant (MDR) cells, which can result from someone taking chemotherapy.

Paw Paw gravitates towards cells that use a lot of energy and then cuts off their energy supply. Since cancer cells use 10-17 times as much energy as a normal cell, Paw Paw it is theorized to act on cancer cells.

Article Information

1) https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/soursop-prevent-cancer/
2) http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/02/13/soursop-graviola-cancer-cure-strong-evidnce/
3) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf9018239?prevSearch=Soursop%2BCancer&searchHistoryKey
4) http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/herb/graviola
5) http://www.pawpawresearch.com/pawpawworks.html
6) https://news.uns.purdue.edu/html4ever/1997/9709.McLaughlin.pawpaw.html

Additional sources:
1) “Journal of Dietary Supplements”; Tropical American Plants in the Treatment of Infectious Diseases; Lana Dvorkin-Camiel and Julia S. Whelan; December 2008

2) “African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines”; Anti-hyperglycemic Activities of Annona Muricata (Linn); D.O. Adeyemi, et al.; October 2008

https://www.cancertutor.com/graviola/

25 Cancer Stem Cell Killing Foods Smarter Than Chemo & Radiation

An important scientific review identifies 25 of the top foods and herbs which kill the cancer stem cells at the root cause of cancer malignancy. 

Posted on: 

Monday, May 7th 2018 at 3:45 pm

Written By: 

Sayer Ji, Founder

There are thousands of natural compounds that have been studied with demonstrable anti-cancer activity (check out over 600 on our cancer research database), but only a small subset of these have been proven to target and kill the cancer stem cells which lie at the root of cancer malignancy. Turmeric, for instance, we have featured a number of times for this "smart kill" property of targeting just the heart of cancerous tumors. More recently, ginger has been found in pre-clinical research to contain a compound up to 10,000 times more effective than the chemotherapy drug Taxol at killing breast cancer stem cells. Even common food like blueberry have special cancer killing properties, as discussed in a previous article: Research: Radiotherapy Causes Cancer, Blueberry Kills It.

A powerful study published in the journal Anticancer Research titled, "Natural Products That Target Cancer Stem Cells," has made our job much easier of identifying this special category of cancer killers by reviewing the extant literature on the topic and listing the top 25 substances in this category. They are listed here below, along with some of their commonly recognizable dietary sources:

1. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) - Green Tea
2. 6-Gingerol - Ginger
3. β-Carotene - Carrot, Leafy Greens
4. Baicalein - Chinese Skullcap
5. Curcumin - Turmeric
6. Cyclopamine - Corn Lilly [we do not suggest consuming this plant; this simply illustrates natural components exist that kill cancer stem cells]
7. Delphinidin - Blueberry, raspberrry
8. Flavonoids (Genistein) - Soy, red clover, coffee
9. Gossypol - Cottonseed [we do not suggest consuming this plant; this simply illustrates natural components exist that kill cancer stem cells]
10. Guggulsterone - Commiphora (myrrh tree)
11. Isothiocyanates - Cruciferous vegetables
12. Linalool - Mint
13. Lycopene - Grapefruit, tomato
14. Parthenolide - Feverfew
15. Perylill alcohol - Mint, cherry, lavender
16. Piperine - Black pepper
17. Placycodon saponin - Playycodon grandifloruim
18. Psoralidin - Psoralea corylilyfolia
19. Quercetin - Capers, onion
20. Resveratrol - Grapes, plums, berries
21. Salinomycin - Streptomyces albus
22. Silibinin - Milk Thistle
23. Ursolic acid - Thyme, basil, oregano
24. Vitamin D3 - Fish, egg yolk, beef, cod liver oil
25. Withaferin A - Withania somnifera (ashwaganda)

Why are these substances so important?

The primary reason why conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy have failed to produce any significant improvements in cancer survival rates is because cancer stem cells are resistant to these interventions. In fact, chemotherapy and especially radiation are both capable of increasing the number and virulence of these cells in a tumor, while at the same time having the well known side effect of further damaging the patient's immune system.

While the cancer industry is still very much resistant to incorporating the implications of these findings into their standard of care (which is highly unethical), there are an increasing number of health practitioners that will not turn their back on the truth and are very much interested in alternative ways to prevent and treat cancer using food and/or plant-based approaches.

The new study addresses the relevance of cancer stem cells as follows:

"The cancer stem cell model suggests that tumor initiation is governed by a small subset of distinct cells with stem-like character termed cancer stem cells (CSCs). CSCs possess properties of self-renewal and intrinsic survival mechanisms that contribute to resistance of tumors to most chemotherapeutic drugs. The failure to eradicate CSCs during the course of therapy is postulated to be the driving force for tumor recurrence and metastasis. Recent studies have focused on understanding the unique phenotypic properties of CSCs from various tumor types, as well as the signaling pathways that underlie self-renewal and drug resistance."

At present, the cancer industry has failed to produce a single drug that targets the cancer stem cell population of cells within a tumor, as confirmed by the study:

"If indeed the CSC response is a vital criterion for cancer treatment evaluation, there are still no drugs in clinical use that specifically target CSCs."

The ability to selectively target cancer cells, and cancer stem cells in particular, while leaving intact the non-tumor cells in tissue is extremely important. We have created a section on our database that indexes research on these substances and now includes sixty seven of them here. We are also building a section that collates research cancer stem cells, a topic will no doubt become a central part of the future of cancer treatment, assuming the priority is to actually alleviate suffering and not just make money off of patients.

Sayer Ji is founder of Greenmedinfo.com, a reviewer at the International Journal of Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine, Co-founder and CEO of Systome Biomed, Vice Chairman of the Board of the National Health Federation, Steering Committee Member of the Global Non-GMO Foundation.

https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/25-cancer-stem-cell-killing-foods-smarter-chemo-radiation