Using curcumin (turmeric) as a dietary supplement may help prevent triple negative breast cancer, which is an aggressive type of breast tumor. Researchers found that curcumin treatment at a dose of 30 micromol/mL significantly inhibited growth of breast cancer cells in vitro, compared to those untreated with this dietary supplement. The treatment increased the level of programmed cell death from 2.76% in the control group to 26.34% in the treatment group. Additionally, the treatment decreased the expression levels of genes associated with triple negative breast cancer. (22)
Resveratrol and breast cancer:
Resveratrol, a chemopreventive compound found in the skin of red grapes and in other food products, was shown to inhibit growth of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive MCF-7 (a breast cancer cell line) by curving the effect of 17-beta-estradiol (E2), which promotes cell growth and gene activation of MCF-7, in a dose-dependent way. At 5 x 10(-6) M, resveratrol abolished the growth-stimulatory effect mediated by concentrations of E2 up to 10(-9) M. In summary, in the presence of estrogen, reveratrol acts as an ER resulting in the inhibition of human breast cancer cells growth. (22)