Anti-inflammatory agents stop metastasis

Dr. Weeks’ Comment: The way to stop metastatic spread of cancer is to use safe and effective anti-inflammatory agents.  The  delicious drink made from the seeds of three potent anti-inflammatory seeds is a favorite choice.  Here we see other anti-inflammatory foods (curcumin, genistein, indole-3-carbinol, C-phococyanin from spirulina, quercetin and resveratrol – found in SOUL) demonstrating inhibition of metastases “an 80% inhibition of migration and invasion”   while treated control cell lines were “unharmed” (again, the body will use beneficial agents to minimize side-effects of chemotherapy and radiation while sensitizing cancer cells to the killing power of chemotherapy).   My prediction is that the age of chemotherapy (in the treatment of cancer) as we know it today is ending and in its tragic place will be the common use of anti-inflammatory agents. 

 

Plant compound combo combats cancer

We hypothesized that a super combination of known phytochemicals used at bioavailable levels could induce 100% killing of breast cancer cells without toxic effects on normal cells and that microarray analysis would identify potential genes for targeted therapy of breast cancer,” Dr Raj and his coauthors write. The team compared the effects of a control substance to a combination of curcumin, genistein, indole-3-carbinol, C-phococyanin from spirulina, resveratrol and quercetin in two breast cancer cell lines as well as in cultured noncancerous stem cells. They observed an 80% inhibition of migration and invasion, and the initiation of apoptosis that resulted in the death of 100% of the breast cancer cells treated with the compounds, while treated control cells remained unharmed. Several genes were identified whose expression was downregulated, and four were identified that were highly upregulated in treated cancer cells.The November, 2013 issue of The Journal of Cancer published the results of research that uncovered a significant effect for a cocktail of six plant compounds in inhibiting the growth and survival of cultured breast cancer cells.

The authors suggest that “Future experiments include animal studies using mouse xenograft model to evaluate the in-vivo toxicity and efficacy of the phytochemical super cocktail treatment to prevent and/or regress breast cancer tumors as well as possible use of the highly up-regulated novel genes as markers to follow-up progress of therapy.”

“One of the primary causes of both the recurrence of breast cancer and deaths is a small group of cancer stem cells that evade therapy,” commented lead researcher Raj Madhwa Raj, PhD, of Louisiana Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. “These often multi-drug-resistant cells have the ability to generate new tumors, so it is critically important to develop new approaches to more effective and safer treatment or prevention of breast cancer.”

The research team tested ten known protective chemical nutrients found in foods like broccoli, grapes, apples, tofu, and turmeric root (a spice used in Indian curry) before settling upon six – Curcumin known as tumeric, Isoflavone from soybeans, Indo-3-Carbinol from cruciferous plants, C-phycocyanin from spirulina, Reservatrol from grapes, and Quercetin, a flavonoid present in fruits, vegetables, and tea. The researchers administered these six at bioavailable levels to both breast cancer and control cells. They tested the compounds individually and in combination. They found that the compounds were ineffective individually. When combined, though, the super cocktail suppressed breast cancer cell growth by more than 80%, inhibited migration and invasion, caused cell cycle arrest, and triggered the process leading to cell death resulting in the death of 100% of the breast cancer cells in the sample. The researchers observed no harmful effects on the control cells. Further analysis also identified several key genes, which could serve as markers to follow the progress of therapy.

Although the cocktail was not tested against BRCA1 and BRAC2, previous studies have shown that they are molecular targets of four of the six compounds. The researchers also earlier demonstrated that two of the compounds synergize effectively to kill ovarian cancer cells.

 

SOURCE:  November 2013 issue of The Journal of Cancer.

 

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