Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric. Traditional Aruvedic medicine has recognized the medicinal uses of turmeric since 1900 B.C. Many of these uses have stood up to rigorous scrutiny in peer-reviewed, evidence-based journals. While preliminary studies suggest that curcumin may be useful in treating leukemia, as of 2011, clinical trials still need to be performed. Conventional medicine remains the strongest approach to treating leukemia. If you have leukemia and are inclined to augment your treatment with curcumin, talk to your doctor first, because this supplement is not for everyone.
Leukemia
The name "leukemia" refers to a class of cancers that affect white blood cells. These diseases are categorized according to the type of white cell involved and whether the disease is chronic or acute. Acute leukemias, such as ALL --- acute lymphocytic leukemia and AML --- acute myeloid leukemia --- are aggressively treated with chemotherapy. Chronic leukemias are often untreated until the disease becomes symptomatic.
Curcumin and Leukemia
Cultured leukemia cells are particularly responsive to curcumin. The first evidence that curcumin might be useful in treating leukemia appeared in the "Journal of the American College of Nutrition" in April 1992. As of 2011, more than 75 studies in peer-reviewed journals show that curcumin increases apoptosis, cell death, in cultured animal leukemia cells. A July 2011 paper in "Environmental Toxicology" examines how curcumin affects cell signals that cause apoptosis.
Overcoming Limitations
Recognizing some of the limitations of experiments in cell cultures, researchers decided to mimic a natural, growing environment; thus, they cultured human B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells with human stromal cells. They found that curcumin was less effective in killing cancer cells in this environment but adding green tea extract epigallocatechin-3 gallate, EGCG, to the cells helped overcome this problem. These findings appeared in the February 2009 "Clinical Cancer Research."
Limitations
While these preliminary studies look promising, as of 2011, there are few animal studies and no human clinical studies on the effectiveness and safety of curcumin. Drugs.com reports that at least 66 drugs and supplements interact with turmeric, including aspirin, fish oil, Lipitor, Zyrtec and calcium supplements.
References
- "Advances in Experimental Medical Biology"; Curcumin: the Indian Solid Gold; B.B. Aggarwal; 2007
- "Clinical Cancer Research"; Curcumin Inhibits Prosurvival Pathways in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia B Cells and May Overcome their Stromal Protection in Combination with EGCG; A.K. Ghosh, et al.; February 2009
- "Journal of the American College of Nutrition"; Curcumin as an Inhibitor of Cancer; M. Nagabhushan and S.V. Bhide; April 1992
- "Environmental Toxicology"; Induction of Apoptosis by Curcumin in Murine Myelomonocytic Leukemia WEHI-3 Cells is Mediated via Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Mitochondria-Dependent Pathways; H.C. Huang; July 2011
- Drugs: Turmeric Drug Interactions
