Chili compound slows lung cancer progression: study

New York: In addition to spicing up your food, chili, it seems, also has medicinal value. New research suggests that the hot pepper compound could help slow the spread of lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in men and women.

Most cancer-related deaths occur when cancer is spread through a process called metastasis.

"Lung cancer and other cancers usually metastasize in secondary regions such as the brain, liver or bones, which makes them difficult to treat," said one of the authors of the study. Study, Jamie Friedman, of Marshall University in the United States.

"Our study suggests that capsaicin, a natural compound of hot peppers, could constitute a new treatment for fighting metastasis in patients with lung cancer," said Friedman, Ph.D. candidate who led the research in the laboratory of Piyali Dasgupta of Marshall University, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.

In experiments involving three non-small cell human lung cancer cell lines in culture, the researchers observed a capsaicin-inhibited invasion, the first step in the metastatic process.

They also discovered that mice with metastatic and capsaicin-consuming cancer had smaller areas of metastatic cancer cells in the lung compared to mice not receiving treatment.

The results were presented at the 2019 Experimental Biology Meeting to be held April 6-9 in Orlando, Florida.

Additional experiments revealed that capsaicin suppresses metastasis from lung cancer by inhibiting the activation of Src protein. This protein plays a role in signaling that controls cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, motility, and adhesion.

"We hope that someday capsaicin can be used in combination with other chemotherapeutic products to treat various lung cancers," Friedman said.