Spices and Cancer Prevention


Hippocrates is frequently quoted as having said, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." Epidemiological, preclinical, and clinical studies continue to pro-vide fundamental insights into the dynamic relationships between nutrients - defined here as any substance in the diet that brings about a physiological effect - and health.Today, claims about the ability of foods, including spices, to lower disease risk or to enhance the quality of life continue to captivate our attention . Out of the thou-sands of chemical structures that have been identified in plant foods, many are found in spices. Typically, spices are the dried aromatic parts of plants generally the seeds, berries, roots, pods, and sometimes leaves that mainly, but not invariably, grow in hot countries . Spices comprise an important component of our daily diets . Indian spices have been known around the world since ancient times. Spices add aroma and taste to food and possess certain medicinal properties as well. Many spices, like turmeric, red chili, coriander, cumin, and mint, have been shown to cure diseases ranging from the common cold and cough to cancerous tumors . Some spices are rich sources of flavonoids, which can block carcinogenesis. For instance, the potential of turmeric (curcumin), red chilli (capsaicin), cloves (eugenol), ginger (zerumbone), garlic (diallyl sulfide), fennel (anethole), kokum (gambogic acid), fenugreek (diosgenin), and black cumin (thymoquinone) in cancer prevention has been established .




When it comes to dealing with cancer, turmeric (Haridra) can be considered the king of spices. Turmeric contains the powerful polyphenol curcumin, or diferuloyl-methan, which has been clinically proven to retard the growth of cancer cells caus-ing prostrate cancer, melanoma, breast cancer, brain tumor, pancreatic cancer, and leukemia, among a host of others . Various preclinical cell culture and animal studies suggest that curcumin has potential as an antiproliferative, anti-invasive, and antiangiogenic agent, as a mediator of chemoresistance and radioresistance, and as a chemopreventive agent . Curcumin promotes apoptosis, which safely eliminates cancer breeding cells without posing a threat to the development of other healthy cells. The various cell-signaling pathways inhibited by curcumin include NFKB, AP-1, STAT3, Akt, Bcl-2, Bcl-X(L), caspases, PARP, IKK, EGFR, HER2, JNK, MAPK, COX2, and 5-LOX . Moreover, curcumin was reported to act in synergism with several natural compounds or synthetic agents commonly used in chemotherapy . The results of a small number of clinical pilot studies conducted with curcumin at doses of up to 12 g suggest tentatively that it is safe in humans .


The rhizomes of Zingiber officinale Roscoe (Zingiberaceae), commonly known as ginger, is one of the most widely used spices and condiments. It is also an integral part of many traditional medicines and has been extensively used since ancient times in Ayurvedic, Chinese, Unani-Tibb, Srilankan, Arabic, and African traditional medi-cines for many unrelated human ailments .Ginger is an excellent source of several bioactive phenolics, including nonvolatile pungent compounds such as gin-gerols, paradols, shogaols, and gingerones . A number of preclinical investiga-tions with a wide variety of assay systems and carcinogens have shown that ginger and its compounds possess chemopreventive and antineoplastic effects . A number of mechanisms have been observed to be involved in the chemopreventive effects of ginger. The cancer-preventive activities of ginger are supposedly due mainly to free radical scavenging, antioxidant pathways, alterations of gene expression, and induction of apoptosis, all of which contribute to decreases in tumor initiation, promotion, and progression .

The medicinal properties of garlic (Allium sativum L.) have been widely known and used since ancient times. Garlic enhances immune functions and has antibacte-rial, antifungal, and antiviral activities . In Ayurveda garlic is used for the treatment of various conditions like asthma, bronchitis, and chest congestion, skin diseases like leprosy, and skin conditions like leucoderma. A few Ayurvedic physi-cians use garlic in repeated worm infections. Fresh and grounded garlic has been shown to inhibit cancer caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrosa-mines .The protective effect of garlic has been attributed to the presence of organosulfur compounds like diallyl sulfide (DAS), diallyl disulfide (DADS), ajo-ene, allixine, allyl mercaptans, and allyl methyl sulfides . These compounds in garlic may give rise to its antibacterial properties, which in turn may block the for-mation of cancer-causing substances, halt the activation of cancer-causing sub-stances, enhance cell repair, reduce cell proliferation, or induce cell death . Several population studies show an association between an increased intake of gar-lic and a reduced risk of certain cancers, including cancers of the stomach, colon, esophagus, pancreas, and breast. Population studies are multidisciplinary studies of population groups that investigate the cause, incidence, or spread of a disease or examine the effect of health-related interventions, dietary and nutritional intakes, or environmental exposures. An analysis of data from seven population studies showed that the higher the amount of raw and cooked garlic consumed, the lower the risk of stomach and colorectal cancer . A randomized clinical trial was conducted in China to evaluate the effect of synthetic allitridum (an extract of garlic used as a medicine in China for over 3,000 years) and selenium intake on gastric cancer risk involving over 5,000 Chinese men and women at high risk of stomach cancer. The study indicated that the risk for all tumors combined was reduced by 33% and the risk of stomach cancer was reduced by 52 % in comparison with a group that received only a placebo .


Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) is one of the most commonly used spices in Indian kitchens . It has been shown to be a potent chemopreventive agent and has been used by the traditional Ayurvedic healers of India since ancient times to treat respiratory and digestive ailments . The major chemical constituents of clove include sesquiterpenes, volatile oil (eugenol), caryophyllene, tannins, and gum. The therapeutic benefits of eugenol are well known. It has been reported to participate in photochemical reactions and to possess insecticidal, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities (162). Recent studies have also identified the promising anticancer properties of clove [108]. Fennel seed (Foeniculum vulgare) methanolic extract (FSME), studied in Swiss albino mice, was shown to possess antioxidant, cytotoxic, and antitumor potential. The FSME antitumor effect was due to the lipid peroxidation modulation that augmented the antioxidant defense system in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma-bearing mice with or without exposure to radiation . The chemopreventive potential of fennel seed was also observed against DMBA-induced skin carcinogenesis and benzo[a]pyrene-induced forestomach papilloma-genesis in Swiss albino mice . Nigella sativa (NS), also known as black cumin, has been used as a traditional medicine for centuries. The crude oil and thymoqui-none (TQ) extracted from its seeds and oil are effective against many diseases such


as cardiovascular complications, diabetes, asthma, kidney problems, and cancer . Studies conducted on SiHa human cervical cancer cells indicated that NS induced apoptosis in SiHa cells through both p53 and caspase activation . A lot of research interest has been generated in the last decade on the chemopreventive effects of saffron on neoplastic cells, and experimental evidence indicate anticar-cinogenic and antitumor activities of saffron and its compounds in vitro and in vivo platforms . Cinnamon bark (Cinnamomum cassia) is another popular herbal ingredient in traditional oriental medicine; it possesses diverse pharmaco-logical activities including antibacterial, antiviral, and anticancer properties .Research studies have suggested that the antitumor effect of cinnamon extracts is directly linked to enhanced proapoptotic activity and to the inhibition of NFKB and AP1 activities and their target genes in vitro and in vivo mouse melanoma models . Cardamom, which belongs to the family Zingiberaceae, is one of the most common ingredients used in Indian cooking and in various parts of Europe . As with many spices, cardamom, especially black cardamom (Amomum subula-tum), has also been found to have antioxidant properties. The ability of cardamom to inhibit chemical carcinogenesis was shown by Banerjee et al. . It was observed that Swiss albino mice fed cardamom oil (10 µL daily for 2 weeks) expe-rienced a significant decrease in liver CYP content.





Herbs and Cancer Prevention


Medical history since its beginnings is filled with descriptions of persons who used herbs to heal the sick of society. However, parallel to the onset of the industrial revo-lution was the rise of allopathic medicine. Herbal medicine was also an effective healing method but was viewed less enthusiastically . Botanical and herbal compounds have a substantial place in cancer treatment and palliation globally .Dietary phytochemicals offer nontoxic therapeutic management as well as chemopreventive intervention for slow-growing cancers. Various herbs are mentioned in the classic Ayurvedic texts for possessing potential anticancer proper-ties. Sadabahar or Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as Madagascar periwin-kle, has been used routinely for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of several diseases, including cancer. The two well-known chemotherapeutic agents vinblastine and vincristine are extracted from this plant, which is now used in the conventional treatment of leukemia and Hodgkin's lymphoma .The ben-efit of an herbal decoction is that it can nourish the body as a whole by supporting various organ systems [9] as they work on multiple biochemical pathways and are capable of influencing several organ systems simultaneously. Ayurvedic herbs can help in total healing and reduces side effects and cancer-associated complications .Many herbs have been scientifically proven to have anticancer properties.