Promising Developments from Turmeric Compounds Could Help Fight Ovarian Cancer

Research suggests turmeric compounds could help fight ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is a scary diagnosis. Even with initial response to current chemotherapy drugs, most cases of ovarian cancer recur and are quickly fatal. That's because response to 2nd line drugs given when the cancer recurs typically only work for a short time, and come with the risk of sometimes serious adverse side effects. (vi.357)

How Can Turmeric Help with Ovarian Cancer?

Drugs that focus on targeting single molecules that are abnormally expressed by ovarian cancer cells can help spare normal cells from damage. Although some of these drugs have been tested, they also come with negative side effects and don't appear to improve overall survival rates. The lack of suitable, safe therapy for ovarian cancer has led researchers to look to turmeric for its powerful cancer-fighting compounds. According to some, technology that makes turmeric's curcumin compounds more bioavailable may make curcumin a viable treatment option. (vi.357)

Turmeric compounds could also help prevent and treat conditions associated with metabolic syndrome, which are also associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer. These include obesity, diabetes, and heart disease(vi.213234-237)

Antioxidant supplements may prevent or significantly reduce the side effects of chemotherapy. For example, the pharmaceutical supplement Protecton Zellactiv reduced the following side effects from cisplatin and cyclophosphamide: (vi.358)

Turmeric contains 4 of the 6 ingredients of Protecton Zellactiv (niacin, riboflavin, vitamin C, and vitamin E). The 2 compounds it doesn't contain are beta carotene and selenium(vi.71358)

How Turmeric Works Against Ovarian Cancer

Turmeric contains natural compounds and nutrients that research suggests can have effects against ovarian cancer. These include:

Turmeric's Phytochemical and Nutrient Effects in Ovarian Cancer
Turmeric Compound Effects

Alpha-curcumene (vi.163)

Question: How can alpha-curcumene help fight ovarian cancer?

Answer: Alpha-curcumene stimulates apoptotic cancer cell death and boosts enzymes that induce cancer cell death. (vi.359)

Curcumin and Curcumin Analogs (vi.71357)

Question: Can curcumin help fight ovarian cancer?

Answer: Research shows curcumin and curcumin analogs have a number of effects that could help fight ovarian cancer. These include:

Niacin (vi.71)

Question: Can niacin help fight ovarian cancer?

Answer: Niacin increased survival time in animals treated with cisplatin and niacin. Cisplatin alone showed no effect against the tumors. (vi.358)

Quercetin (vi.79)

Question: Can quercetin help fight ovarian cancer?

Answer: In case and population studies involving European women, high consumption of onions, which are particularly rich in quercetin, was linked with significantly lower rates of ovarian cancer. (vi.250)

These studies are supported by research that shows quercetin has the following effects that may block ovarian cancer progression:

  • Quercetin boosts the effectiveness of cisplatin and genistein drugs in lab studies. (vi.358)
  • Quercetin inhibits tumor cell growth. (vi.131)
  • Quercetin reduced markers for ovarian cancer and showed antitumor activity when given intravenously to a patient with ovarian cancer. (vi.358)

Resveratrol (vi.83)

Question: Can resveratrol help fight ovarian cancer?

Answer: Resveratrol has anticancer activity that could help fight ovarian cancer. These include:

Vitamin C (vi.71)

Question: Can vitamin C help fight ovarian cancer?

Answer: According to a case report, intravenous vitamin C eliminated ovarian tumors following chemotherapy treatment. (vi.358)

Vitamin E (vi.71)

Question: Can vitamin C help fight ovarian cancer?

Answer: Vitamin E reduced the toxic side effects of cisplatin and cisplatin/paclitaxel chemotherapy in randomized, controlled clinical trials. (vi.358)

How Turmeric Compounds Stop Ovarian Cancer Cells

How Turmeric Compounds Stop Ovarian Cancer Cells (vi.81131357-365)

Proteins that trigger oncogene activity. (vi.39)
Small proteins produced as part of the immune system response to illness or injury; too many can be cancer-promoting. (vi.3787)
Enzymes that enhance, stimulate, or suppress other proteins. (vi.118)
Such as cisplatin, TRAIL, and docetaxel. (vi.35362)
Such as fatty acid synthase (FASN). (vi.357363)
Between 21-73% risk reduction. (vi.250)
Specifically, cisplatin and doxorubicin. (vi.362)



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