The red-hot power of chillies can kill (prostate) cancer

Daily Times ^ | 3/17/06 | daily times monitor

[voletti]

THE substance in chillies that causes the tongue to burn also drives prostate cancer cells to kill themselves, according to research that could pave the way for new treatments. The pepper component capsaicin makes the cells undergo programmed cell death or apoptosis, says a study published in the journal Cancer Research. Tests found that it induced approximately 80 per cent of cancer cells growing in mice to follow the molecular pathways leading to apoptosis. Prostate cancer tumours treated with capsaicin were about one-fifth the size of tumours in non-treated mice, said a team from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of California, Los Angeles. Every year, 10,000 men die and more than 30,000 are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK. “Capsaicin had a profound anti-proliferative effect on human prostate cancer cells in culture,” said Dr Sören Lehmann, team member. He estimated that the dose of pepper extract fed to the mice was equivalent to giving 400 milligrams of capsaicin three times a week to a 200-pound man, roughly equivalent to between three and eight fresh habañera peppers. Britain’s Prostate Cancer Charity welcomed the study, but advised men not to eat more hot chillies. Head of Policy and Research, Chris Hiley, said: “Eventually, it may be possible to extract the capsaicin and make it available as a drug treatment. In the meantime, we caution men with prostate cancer in the UK against upping their weekly intake of the hottest known chillies. High intake of hot chillies has been linked with stomach cancers in the populations of India and Mexico.”

[Larry Lucido]

Yea, but I bet applying the chili powder burns like hell.

[S0122017]

Haha! Duplicate :)!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1597306/posts

[billorites]

[Khurkris]

chili ping

[djf]

I also seem to remember them being very good for endometriosis type stuff in women.

Maybe not...

[bikerman]

Come on ice-cream.

[Graybeard58]

giving 400 milligrams of capsaicin three times a week to a 200-pound man, roughly equivalent to between three and eight fresh habañera peppers

That's a lot, in my opinion. Some folks can handle that much but I can't if they are anywhere near as hot as the ones I grow.

The article spells the word habañera with the Spanish "nya" and ending in the letter "a". That's the first time I've seen it spelled that way. Always before I've seen it spelled "habenero", the "a" on the word makes me think it might be the feminine version of the same word so I googled them both and Google lists them as different peppers. I'll have to do some more research after I wake up.

If anyone wants to try my hotter than hades peppers FReepmail me a mailing address and I'll send a sample free of charge.

[Graybeard58]

Haha! Duplicate :)!

No, it isn't. They are similar but not duplicates.

[COBOL2Java]

Minted Serrano Chili Ice Cream

Yield: 1 ½ Quart

Ingredients:
1 qt Half and Half
¼ Cup Fresh Mint, cleaned and finely chopped
6 Serrano Chilies, finely chopped
10 Egg Yolks
1 ¼ Cup Granulated Sugar

Procedure:

1) Bring the half and half, mint and serrano chile slowly to a gentle boil and maintain the simmer for 5 minutes.
2) Whisk the yolks and sugar to ribbon.
3) Add half and half to the egg yolks and sugar and return to a gentle fire and cook constantly stirring with a wooden spoon until the mix thinly coats the back of a spoon.
4) Cool quickly in an ice bath.
5) Strain.
6) Pour mixture into an ice cream machine and freeze.

[S0122017]

I don't mind one way or another, I have posted a lot of duplicates myself.
Anyway, i consider duplicates to be articles concerning the same research.

[Graybeard58]

High intake of hot chillies has been linked with stomach cancers in the populations of India and Mexico.”

This is disturbing. The other article didn't mention that. Since it's very pertinent to the subject I am wondering why it wasn't mentioned or if it is correct.

[S0122017]

Yes it appears to be true.
www.pubmed.com

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=8116601&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum

---

Am J Epidemiol. 1994 Feb 1;139(3):263-71. Related Articles, Links


Chili pepper consumption and gastric cancer in Mexico: a case-control study.

Lopez-Carrillo L, Hernandez Avila M, Dubrow R.

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.

Laboratory studies indicate that capsaicin, the hot-tasting component of chili peppers, may be carcinogenic. A population-based case-control study was conducted in Mexico City during 1989-1990 to evaluate the relation between chili pepper consumption and gastric cancer risk. The study included 220 incident cases and 752 controls randomly selected from the general population. Information was collected by interview. Chili pepper consumers were at high risk for gastric cancer compared with nonconsumers (age- and sex-adjusted odds ratio = 5.49, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.72-11.06). Among consumers, there was a highly significant trend of increasing risk with increasing self-rated level of consumption (low, medium, and high) (p = 2 x 10(-7). The odds ratio for high-level consumers compared with nonconsumers was 17.11 (95% CI 7.78-37.59). However, when consumption was measured as frequency per day, a significant trend among consumers was not observed. Multivariable adjustment increased the magnitude of the chili pepper-gastric cancer association, but a significant trend among consumers (measured as frequency per day) was still not observed. Chili pepper consumption may be a strong risk factor for gastric cancer, but further studies are needed to test this hypothesis.

---

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12800206&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum

Int J Cancer. 2003 Aug 20;106(2):277-82. Related Articles, Links


Capsaicin consumption, Helicobacter pylori positivity and gastric cancer in Mexico.

Lopez-Carrillo L, Lopez-Cervantes M, Robles-Diaz G, Ramirez-Espitia A, Mohar-Betancourt A, Meneses-Garcia A, Lopez-Vidal Y, Blair A.

Mexico National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.

Gastric cancer (GC) incidence has not declined in Mexico. We assessed whether the intake of capsaicin (CAP), the pungent compound of chili peppers, increases the risk of GC independently of H. pylori positivity (Hp). From 1994 to 1996, a hospital-based case-control study was performed in 3 areas of Mexico; 234 cases of GC and 468 matched controls were enrolled and their diet and other characteristics were inquired. Chili pepper intake was queried by interview and CAP content of chilies was determined in a separate analysis by gas chromatography to estimate CAP intake; IGg Hp serum antibodies were determined by ELISA. The risk of GC was increased (OR = 1.71; 95% CI = 0.76-3.88) among high-level consumers of CAP (90-250 mg of capsaicin per day, approximately 9-25 jalapeno peppers per day) as compared to low-level consumers (0-29.9 mg of capsaicin per day, approximately 0 to less than 3 jalapeno peppers per day; p for trend p = 0.026); this effect was independent of Hp status and other potential GC determinants and was higher among diffuse GC cases (OR = 3.64; 95% CI = 1.09-12.2; p for trend = 0.002) compared to intestinal GC cases (OR = 1.36; 95% CI = 0.31-5.89; p for trend = 0.493). No significant interaction was found between CAP intake and Hp on GC risk. Chili pepper consumption might be an independent determinant of GC in Mexico. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

[IamConservative]

I just knew chicken wings were good for you.

[Graybeard58]

I have read the article and the information you posted and at first reading it seems to be contradictory but upon rereading I see that higher intake retards the regrowth of a cancer you already have, while increasing the risks of getting cancer

elsewhere. I think I'll leave my pepper eating right where it is.

[Graybeard58]

I just knew chicken wings were good for you.

I know it's down right un American but I hate chicken. (That means there's more for you)

[commish]

Woohoo time to break out those old Red Hot Chili Peppers Cd's.

[IamConservative]

I know it's down right un American but I hate chicken.

Is it taste or principle? My grandmother grew up during the depression. She absolutely, flat out refused to allow beans of any kind on her table because it reminded her of an unsavory childhood of beans and cornbread. To her, beans and dirt poor went hand in hand.

[tiki]

Since we grow Chile for a living, this sounds very good.

[Graybeard58]

Your grand mother and I have similar reasons, my parents raised chickens when I was growing up and I never remember caring for it but I ate it. When I went in the military I discovered that I was an adult now and there's no reason to eat something I don't like.

It's the only thing I can think of in an ordinary diet that I won't eat.