Spice of life - how curry ingredient fights cancer.

Byline: Michelle McDonagh

YOU might have thought that spicy late-night curry was only good for killing taste buds - but it can destroy cancer cells too.

Irish scientists have discovered that as well as adding colour, turmeric is effective against oesophageal cancer.

The spice, which is used in every Indian curry from korma to jalfrezi, contains a natural chemical called curcumin that fights the cancer, which is the seventh most-common cause of cancer deaths in Ireland.

Scientists at the Cork Cancer Research Centre in UCC treated oesophageal cancer cells with curcumin and found that it started to kill the cells within 24 hours.

The researchers discovered that curcumin works by triggering cell death signals. The ground-breaking research, published in the British Journal of Cancer today, is especially significant given that rates of oesophageal cancer have gone up by more than half since the 1970s, fuelled by rising rates of obesity and alcohol intake.

Dr Sharon McKenna, lead study author at the Cork Cancer Research Centre, said the results suggest curcumin could be developed as a cancer treatment drug.

Around 350 people are diagnosed with the cancer in Ireland every year and less than 20 per cent of them survive the disease beyond five years.