Turmeric cures colorectal cancer, finds research team

Puducherry: A research team headed by Pondicherry University professor R. Baskaran has made a major breakthrough in the field of cancer research by uncovering the mechanism by which curcumin, a bioactive ingredient of turmeric, commonly used in every household in the country, prevents and effectively cures colorectal cancer.

Though chemo-prevention property of curcumin was known earlier, its ability to kill colorectal cancer cells is a less known fact so far. Baskaran said turmeric has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant powers. He said turmeric has the power to kill the cells causing colorectal cancer. “We found that turmeric is killing the cancerous cells without creating any damage to the normal cell. This happens because protein levels of ‘GADD45a’ , which is required for cell death genes activated during DNA damage, are increased following curcumin treatment.”

The significant finding was published in the international journal “molecular and cellular biochemistry’ on March 2. Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is a critical health concern because of its incidence as the third most prevalent cancer in the world.
“The medicinal value of turmeric is mentioned in various ancient books like Charaka Samhita .

Turmeric has been used for treating various internal as well as external diseases in Siddha and Ayurveda,” said V. Indira who is practising siddha for the last 20 years.She said change in life style and food habits increased the number of cancer patients in India and added that it is a good trend that more researches are happening on the medicinal value of turmeric.

Baskaran has 20 years experience in cancer research abroad and in India and has published more than 50 articles in international journals such as Nature, PNAS and Molecular Cancer. He was working in USA for 20 years before joining Pondicherry University as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.