Since the Pap test, the cervical cancer death rate has gone down by about 50 percent.
The American Cancer Society estimates that in the year 2015, about 4,100 women in the United States will die from cervical cancer. Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV, which is the human papilloma virus.
The Oral Cancer Foundation estimates that oral cancer will cause over 8,650 deaths in the United States this year. HPV is also a major cause of oral cancers.
According to Dr. Eric Genden, chair of otolaryngology at New York’s Mt. Sinai Hospital, “There’s an epidemic of HPV-related throat cancers.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that HPV is so common, that nearly all sexually active men and women will get the virus at some point in our lives. However, many will never suffer harm or experience any symptoms.
New research shows that curcumin may fight oral and cervical cancers.
The researchers were from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Mayo Clinic, Emory University, and Indian universities.
Alok Mishra, Ph.D., of the NCI and Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute and leader of the study stated, “Turmeric has established antiviral and anti-cancer properties.”
Dr. Mishra and colleagues set out to find if curcumin would inhibit the activity of HPV in oral cancer cells.
The researchers found that curcumin slowed the expression of HPV genes, and they believe that curcumin may fight oral and cervical cancers caused by HPV.
“Since HPV-related oral cancer cases are on rise, we tested the same hypothesis on oral cancer,” Dr. Mishra said. “They turned out to be some very interesting findings.”
The research team found that curcumin worked to inhibit HPV activity by regulating the levels of two messenger proteins called AP-1 and NF-kB.
The study showing that curcumin may fight oral and cervical cancer was published in the journal ecancer.
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REFERENCES:
1. “Curcumin Modulates Cellular AP-1, NF-kB, and HPV16 E6 Proteins in Oral Cancer.” ecancer. European Institute of Oncology and the OECI, n.d. Web. 18 May 2015.
2. “Oral Cancer Facts.” The Oral Cancer Foundation. The Oral Cancer Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 May 2015.
3. “What Are the Key Statistics about Cervical Cancer?” American Cancer Society. American Cancer Society, n.d. Web. 18 May 2015.
4. “Oral Sex and Throat Cancer: Michael Douglas HPV Report Spotlights “epidemic”” CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 3 June 2013. Web. 18 May 2015.
5. “Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Statistics.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Dec. 2014. Web. 18 May 2015.
