The spice of life!

BY DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

A cure for cancer may be as close as the nearest Indian restaurant.

Researchers say that turmeric - a key spice in virtually all curries - contains a potent cancer-fighting agent that may eventually provide treatments for several hard-to-treat types of tumors.

"It is very effective, that is for sure," said Bharat Aggarwal, a top researcher at the prestigious M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "There is enough data to say it is very potent."

A study published in the upcoming issue of Cancer magazine shows curcumin, a chemical pigment in turmeric, has promise fighting breast, colon, prostate and pancreatic cancers. Now doctors have launched clinical tests to see if it works on real patients.

"We are trying cancer after cancer," said Aggarwal, noting that many cancers are 10 times rarer on the Indian subcontinent than in the West. "It's not too early to hope."

The breakthrough came as no surprise at Joy Restaurant on E. 28th St. in Manhattan, where owner Abu Syed waxes poetic about the virtues of his fragrant chicken tikka masala and cauliflower-potato curry.

"We already knew that Indian food tastes good," Syed said. "But it is good to hear it can help with cancer, too. It is one more reason to eat plenty of it."

Across town on Ninth Ave., Omar Darr says virtually every dish at his Cuisine of Pakistan restaurant includes a few dashes of turmeric along with several varieties of chili peppers.

"I always said that spicy food can help you live longer," said Mohammed Birzai, 33, of Queens, walking out with a plate of fiery-hot curry chicken. "Here's the proof."

So what are the statistics on cancer in the Indian population as compared to others?

Interesting news! Good reasons to go out on Wednesday .

Amazing how they keep discovering that natural substances have such promising medical benefits.

absolute statistics never make sense unless u discount all other influences. ( which might be not be benign for India considering the resources the country has with respect to its population)..

But something inside tells me that still India has a very low cancer rate compared to the others. Conditions such as breast cancer etc are relatively new aquaintances to our disease list.

I never said statistics would be foolproof. I'm just curious as to what they are.

That news is about twenty years old...

Cancer Lett. 1985 Nov;29(2):197-202. Related Articles, Links

Potential anticancer activity of turmeric (Curcuma longa).

Kuttan R, Bhanumathy P, Nirmala K, George MC.

Anticancer activity of the rhizomes of turmeric was evaluated in vitro using tissue culture methods and in vivo in mice using Dalton's lymphoma cells grown as ascites form. Turmeric extract inhibited the cell growth in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells at a concentration of 0.4 mg/ml and was cytotoxic to lymphocytes and Dalton's lymphoma cells at the same concentration. Cytotoxic effect was found within 30 min at room temperature (30 degrees C). The active constituent was found to be 'curcumin' which showed cytotoxicity to lymphocytes and Dalton's lymphoma cells at a concentration of 4 micrograms/ml. Initial experiments indicated that turmeric extract and curcumin reduced the development of animal tumours.

I agree, I mean, curries have long been in India, from the beginning. It is always good for digestion and things of that sort. plus they taste good