Figure 11.

Effects of combining chemotherapy with a dietary compound: Curcumin. (A) An orthotopic mouse model of pancreatic cancer inoculated with fluorescent HPAF-II cells. The figure (dot plot) shows effects on tumor growth (deduced from fluorescence measurements) in mice treated with “superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles” (SP, control), curcumin (CUR), gemcitabine (GEM), SP loaded with curcumin (SP-CUR) and a combination (SP-CUR + GEM). The effect of SP-CUR + GEM was significantly greater than gemcitabine alone (p < 0.0001) (***). Modified from Khan et al. [241]. (B) Overall survival determined within a group of 44 patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer treated with a combination of gemcitabine and a curcumin combination (Meriva). The dotted lines indicate a median survival time of ca. 10 months (marked by the circle on the time axis). The average median survival time for such patients treated with gemcitabine alone would be ca. 2 months (marked by the square). Modified from Pastorelli et al. [242]. (C) Bioavailability of curcumin. Plasma curcumin levels following administration of conventional curcumin (CUR) and two doses of Theracurmin (T-CUR) were determined in patients. Points represent individual patients and horizontal bars correspond to median concentration values. 200 mg Theracurmin (T-CUR1) resulted in a median plasma concentration of 324 ng/mL, a 3.8-fold increase from the median 85 ng/mL produced by a much higher level of CUR (8 g). The bioavailability of Theracurmin was dose-dependent, 400 mg (T-CUR2) leading to 440 ng/mL. Modified from Kanai [232].