Curcumin Against Mesothelioma
For decades researchers have been trying potential chemopreventives on members of the Tyler Asbestos Workers cohort; so far without success. Nether beta-carotene, diet nor vitamins have held off the ravages of cancer inflicted by these men's work at the Unibestos facility in Tyler, TX where amosite insulation for nuclear reactors aboard submarines and aircraft carriers was made in the 1960s.
The idea has been to find something with antioxidant properties that might protect workers from the slowly dissolving amphibole fibers in their lungs that are thought to continuously produce free radicals. So far, no luck. But here's a new study from Michigan suggesting that a potent anti-cancer supplement, curcumin, may in fact restart the body's defense mechanisms against malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM): "Curcumin Suppresses Growth of Mesothelioma Cells In Vitro and In Vivo, in Part, by Stimulating Apoptosis".
Curcumin, like rapamycin, is a very big deal these days. Drop either word into the search window at www.pubmed.gov and you'll see what I mean. After so many false dawns in the war against cancer it's hard not to assume that this isn't another one. Yet somehow, for these two antibiotics, the evidence has piled up to a point where many are starting to think they see some light on the horizon.
