Hot Pepper Kills Prostate Cancer Cells in Study

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Wed Mar 15, 7:35 PM ET

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Capsaicin, which makes peppers hot, can cause

prostate cancer cells to kill themselves, U.S. and Japanese researchers

said on Wednesday.

 

Capsaicin led 80 percent of human prostate cancer cells growing in mice

to commit suicide in a process known as apoptosis, the researchers said.

 

Prostate cancer tumors in mice fed capsaicin were about one-fifth the

size of tumors in untreated mice, they reported in the journal Cancer

Research.

 

" Capsaicin had a profound anti-proliferative effect on human prostate

cancer cells in culture, " said Dr. Soren Lehmann of the Cedars-Sinai

Medical Center and the University of California Los Angeles School of

Medicine.

 

" It also dramatically slowed the development of prostate tumors formed

by those human cell lines grown in mouse models. "

 

While it is far easier to cure cancer in mice infected with human tumors

than it is in human beings, the findings suggest a possible future

treatment. They also may offer a good excuse for men who like spicy food

to eat more of it.

 

Lehmann estimated that the mice ate the human equivalent of 400

milligrams of capsaicin three times a week. That is about the amount

found in three to eight fresh habanero peppers, depending on how hot the

peppers are.

 

The capsaicin inhibited the activity of NF-kappa beta, a molecular

mechanism that helps lead to apoptosis in many cell types.

 

Prostate cancer is the most common malignant cancer in U.S. men. It is

diagnosed in 232,000 men every year and kills up to 30,000 of them.

Worldwide, 221,000 men die every year from prostate cancer.

 

2006 Reuters Limited.