Curcumin
Helps Slow the Development of Mesothelioma
Spices commonly found in Asia and cancer-inhibiting molecules are promising to slow the development of mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a lung cancer that is often associated with asbestos exposure. Scientists from Case Western Reserve University and Georg-Speyer-Haus in Frankfurt, Germany, showed that the application of curcumin, turmeric-derived compounds and cancer-inhibiting peptides can increase the levels of protein inhibitors that are known to combat the development of mesothelioma.
Malignant mesothelioma has seized the attention of a wide audience because it often occurs in the lung layer of people exposed to asbestos exposure. However, asbestos does not always cause cancer that kills 43,000 people worldwide every year. Many also mesothelioma patients who were never exposed to asbestos.
Spices commonly found in Asia and cancer-inhibiting molecules are promising to slow the development of mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a lung cancer that is often associated with asbestos exposure. Scientists from Case Western Reserve University and Georg-Speyer-Haus in Frankfurt, Germany, showed that the application of curcumin, turmeric-derived compounds and cancer-inhibiting peptides can increase the levels of protein inhibitors that are known to combat the development of mesothelioma.
Malignant mesothelioma has seized the attention of a wide audience because it often occurs in the lung layer of people exposed to asbestos exposure. However, asbestos does not always cause cancer that kills 43,000 people worldwide every year. Many also mesothelioma patients who were never exposed to asbestos.
"Mesothelioma is a disease that continues to provide a significant burden throughout the world, and its treatment options are completely suboptimal. We have to find a better way to treat it, "said senior author Afshin Dowlati, MD, Professor of Medicine - Hematology / Oncology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Currently, we have understood the mechanisms that promote cell proliferation and the growth of malignant mesothelioma." Added as reported by Case Western Reserve University
The main offenders that trigger cancer, especially mesothelioma, are intracellular proteins and transcription factor STAT3 (transducer and transcription signal activator 3). Transducers and signal activators are the pathways for instructing cell growth and survival, and transcription factors are proteins that control genetic information to direct cells how to perform their functions. STAT3 is known as the sender of signals that trigger the onset of cancer in humans and signals to fuel its growth. The STAT3 neutralizer is PIAS3 (a STAT3 activated protein inhibitor). PIAS3 has the power to inhibit and impede the ability of STAT3 to cause cancer.
In this study, researchers assessed PIAS3 expression in tissue samples from mesothelioma solid tumors and subsequent effects of protein inhibitors on STAT3 activity. The tissue samples come from three different locations in the German state, and the information recorded for each specimen is a detail of how long the patient lived and the type of mesothelioma. Then, the researchers linked PIAS3 levels with STAT3 activity in each sample. In addition, researchers also examined the effects of curcumin and peptides extracted from the PIAS3 segment in malignant mesothelioma cells in vitro.
"In patients with mesothelioma where PIAS3 is low, STAT3 is activated," said Dowlati, Director of the Center for Cancer Drug Development, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center. "Patients with Mesothelioma who have low PIAS3 and STAT3 high, have a greater chance to die early. On the other hand, patients with high PIAS3 levels have a 44 percent decrease in the chance of death within a year, and this is substantial. "
The researchers also found that PIAS3 curcumin and peptide can raise PIAS3 levels, thereby weakening STAT3 activity and causing mesothelioma cells to die.
This study provides evidence of the principle of the effectiveness of these two compounds in treating malignant mesothelioma, and is the first step in the treatment of clinical trials. In addition, their findings suggest that PIAS3 may serve as a predictive marker for mesothelioma because the tumor does not always develop consistently, predictably, even when it has reached the tumor stage, its clinical value and presentation appear similar.
"Our findings suggest that PIAS3 expression positively affects the viability of patients with mesothelioma and PIAS3 activation may be a therapeutic strategy," Dowlati said.
"Our interest for the future is that we want to find a better and simpler way to increase PIAS3 intracellular levels against malignant mesothelioma through the use of synthetic PIAS3 peptides or curcumin analogues. We must develop curcumin analogues absorbed by the human body. Currently, the curcumin we consume in turmeric, is practically not absorbed by the intestine. "
This study also contributes to the overall scientific knowledge for all cancers.
"Our findings raise questions about whether the role of PIAS3 in limiting STAT3 activation also applies to other cancers as well," Dowlati said. "There is an opportunity to expand this discovery because the number of cancers that develop from STAT3 is activated." He concluded.