CURRY 'CHEMICAL' MAY HELP TO FIGHT CANCER.

Curcumin, which is found in the spice turmeric, has already been linked to a range of health benefits and is now to be tested to see if it can help kill bowel cancer tumours. In laboratory tests it has been shown that it can beat cancer cells grown and it has been suggested that there could be benefits for stroke and dementia patients also. Now a trial, at hospitals in Leicester, will be investigating giving curcumin alongside chemotherapy drugs.

Each year about 40,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK and patients are normally given a combination of three chemotherapy drugs if the disease spreads around the body but, in about half of these cases, there will be no response. Prof William Steward, from Leicester University, who is leading the study, said the "major justification for cracking on" with the trial.was because animal tests combining the two were "100 times better" than either on their own.

Link: www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17959521