Curcumin Supplements May Have Benefits in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer has a poor prognosis, with most patients dying within one year of diagnosis. Conventional treatment options are also limited, with only two chemotherapeutic drugs having benefits in less than 10 percent of patients.

However, a new study, conducted by physicians and researchers at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, has found that a small number of patients with pancreatic cancer do respond positively to high-dose curcumin supplements.

Curcumin, an extract of the spice turmeric, has potent anti-inflammatory properties. It inhibits the activity of “nuclear factor kappa beta,” a gene transcription protein that promotes inflammation, tumor growth, and metastasis.

Razelle Kurzrock, MD, and her colleagues treated 25 pancreatic cancer patients with 8 grams of curcumin daily. She was able to evaluate 21 of the patients for their response to curcumin.

Although bioavailability of curcumin was poor, and most patients did not show improvements, three patients did respond to the supplements. One patient has remained stable for more than 18 months and had a decrease in his CA125 level, a marker of cancer activity. Another patient had a dramatic 73 percent decrease in tumor size for one month, but other cancerous lesions started to grow in size. A third patient remained in the study for eight months, and had a feeling of well-being, but experienced an increase in “nontarget” lesions.

“Oral curcumin is well tolerated and, despite its limited absorption, has biological activity in some patients with pancreatic cancer,” wrote Kurzrock.

Reference: Dhillon N, Aggarwal BB, Newman RA, et al. Phase II trial of curcumin in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, 2008;14:4491-4499.