Curcumin & Colorectal Cancer: Making Life Better
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common kinds of cancer. Curcumin is one of the most powerful natural anticancer supplements. What happens when colorectal cancer meets curcumin?
Curcumin is the active ingredient in the herb turmeric. This versatile and powerful nutrient is one of the most promising and exciting supplements for the prevention and treatment of cancer. It has also been shown to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation while protecting against their side effects.
Previous research has shown that curcumin significantly decreases free radical damage and inflammation and significantly increases quality of life in people undergoing chemo for solid tumours, including colorectal cancer (J Funct Foods 2014;6:615-622).
A new double-blind study adds evidence to that important benefit for people with colorectal cancer. This study gave either 500mg of curcuminoids or a placebo to 67 people who had had surgery and were now undergoing chemotherapy for stage 3 colorectal cancer .
At the end of the 8 week study, there was significant improvement in inflammatory markers in the curcumin group compared to the placebo group. There was also significant improvement on the EORTC-QLQ-C30, which assesses quality of life in cancer patients, in the curcumin group.
This study adds to the evidence in favour of supplementing curcumin while on chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. It also, once again, supports the evidence for antioxidants during chemotherapy.
Adv Exp Med Biol 2021;1328:1-9
