curry and green tea, anyone? not her2 specific, but ER+ specific research

[Lani]

Int J Cancer. 2007 Dec 20 [Epub ahead of print]
The combination of epigallocatechin gallate and curcumin suppresses ERalpha-breast cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo.

Somers-Edgar TJ, Scandlyn MJ, Stuart EC, Le Nedelec MJ, Valentine SP, Rosengren RJ.
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Both epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and curcumin have shown efficacy in various in vivo and in vitro models of cancer. This study was designed to determine the efficacy of these naturally derived polyphenolic compounds in vitro and in vivo, when given in combination. Studies in MDA-MB-231 cells demonstrated that EGCG + curcumin was synergistically cytotoxic and that this correlated with G(2)/M-phase cell cycle arrest. After 12 hr, EGCG (25 muM) + curcumin (3 muM) increased the proportion of cells in G(2)/M-phase to 263 +/- 16% of control and this correlated with a 50 +/- 4% decrease in cell number compared to control. To determine if this in vitro result would translate in vivo, athymic nude female mice were implanted with MDA-MB-231 cells and treated with curcumin (200 mg/kg/day, po), EGCG (25 mg/kg/day, ip), EGCG + curcumin, or vehicle control (5 ml/kg/day, po) for 10 weeks. Tumor volume in the EGCG + curcumin treated mice decreased 49% compared to vehicle control mice (p < 0.05), which correlated with a 78 +/- 6% decrease in levels of VEGFR-1 protein expression in the tumors. Curcumin treatment significantly decreased tumor protein levels of EGFR and Akt, however the expression of these proteins was not further decreased following combination treatment. Therefore, these results demonstrate that the combination of EGCG and curcumin is efficacious in both in vitro and in vivo models of ERalpha- breast cancer and that regulation of VEGFR-1 may play a key role in this effect. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
PMID: 18098290 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Now just to figure out if the effect is mouse specific, whether it depends on genetic makeup of person consuming greentea/curcumin, dosage equivalent that produces a benefit vs harm or no effect...Doubt there will be money/researchers looking into neoadjuvant effect of THIS combo!

[sarah]

I take curcurmin daily. It must be taken with food or it could burn the stomach. I agree, no research will be done because there's no money in it.
sarah

[Cathya]

I absolutely love curry and eat it regularly. I also have a large cup of green tea each morning. Along with my omega 3, vitamin d, etc. something must be doing some good. My serum her2 rose above normal for a few months and then came down again to 8!! I'm thrilled but my oncologist now is wondering if the test is any good. I think it's because of the recommendations from this site that I am following. Thanks for the good info.

Cathy