CHILLI PEPPERS MAY HELP SLOW DOWN SPREAD OF CANCER CELLS.
A compound that makes chilli peppers spicy may help curb lung cancer spread, according to a study that may pave the way for a novel treatment against the deadly disease. Most cancer-related deaths occur when cancer spreads to distant sites, a process called metastasis. "Lung cancer and other cancers commonly metastasise to secondary locations like the brain, liver and bone, making them difficult to treat", said Jamie Friedman, a doctoral candidate who performed the research at Marshall University in the United States. "Our study suggests that the natural compound capsalcin from chilli peppers could represent a novel therapy to combat metastasis in lung cancer patients", Friedman said.
In experiments involving three lines of cultured human non-small cell lung cancer cells, the researchers observed that capsalcin inhibited invasion, the first step of the metastatic process. Additional experiments revealed that capsalcin suppresses lung cancer metastasis by inhibiting activation of the protein SRC. This protein plays a role in the signalling that controls cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, motility and adhesion. "We hope that one day capsalcin can be used in combination with other chemo-therapeutics to treat a variety of lung cancers", said Friedman.
[Courtesy: The Times of India dated 04th April, 2019 (Tuesday)].
-Challapalli Srinivas Chakraverthy-
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