Can Clinical Use of Capsaicin Slow the Spread of Lung Adenocarcinoma?
Posted: Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Capsaicin, the natural compound that gives chili peppers their heat, may help combat metastasis in lung cancer, according to preclinical research presented at the 2019 Experimental Biology Annual Meeting (poster 368.1) in Orlando, Florida. The finding was based on multiple experiments involving human non–small cell lung cancer cells, live mice, and the natural compound.
“We hope that one day, capsaicin can be used in combination with other chemotherapeutics to treat a variety of lung cancers,” noted Jamie Friedman, a doctoral candidate working in the laboratory of coauthor Piyali Dasgupta, PhD, at Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Huntington, West Virginia, in a press release from FASEB. “However, using capsaicin clinically will require overcoming its unpleasant side effects.”
Researchers noted that capsaicin prevented invasion in the cultured cells, inhibiting the first step of metastasis. In addition, mice with metastatic cancer that consumed capsaicin had reduced areas of metastatic cancer cells when compared with mice who did not consume the compound. Additional experiments were conducted to determine the cause of this growth deterrent and found that capsaicin inhibited the activation of Src, a protein instrumental in controlling cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and motility.
Because capsaicin is a pungent compound whose consumption is often linked to unwanted side effects such as stomach cramps, gastrointestinal distress, and a burning sensation, researchers are also working to identify natural or artificial nonpungent capsaicin alternatives that will eliminate these side effects without decreasing its antitumor activity.
The Experimental Biology Annual Meeting brings together 5 societies of more than 12,000 scientists and 25 guest societies in a single interdisciplinary community. It explores the latest science in anatomy, biochemistry, and molecular biology; investigative pathology; pharmacology; and physiology.
Disclosure: The study authors’ disclosure information may be found at plan.core-apps.com.
