curcumin increases growth inhibition of cox-2 inhib'rs in cancer by up to 10 fold

* w w w .ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18289124?ordinalpos=18&itool=EntrezSystem
2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Recent Patents Anticancer Drug Discov. 2008 Jan;3(1):55-62

Compositions for treatment of cancer and inflammation.

Lev-Ari S, Lichtenberg D, Arber N.
Department of Cancer Prevention, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv
University, Israel.

Celecoxib (Celebrex, Pfizer, NY, USA) is a worldwide top branded
COX-2-specific inhibitor. It was shown to provide relief of arthritic pain
and inflammation and has recently been under investigation for the
prevention and treatment of cancer. However, recent studies showed that long
term use of high doses of celecoxib is associated with an increased
cardiovascular toxicity. We discovered that the addition of curcumin, a
natural COX-2 inhibitor, to celecoxib synergistically (up to 1000%) augments
the growth inhibitory effects of celecoxib in in-vitro and in-vivo models of
arthritis and cancer, thus rendering effective action of the drug at up to
tenfold lower dose. This may pave the way for a novel strategy to treat
arthritis and cancer because its effect [1] can be achieved in the serum of
patients receiving standard anti inflammatory or anti-neoplastic dosages of
celecoxib, and [2] involves a regimen with a very low profile of side
effects. Preliminary data suggest that the combination is not limited only
to celecoxib and that addition of curcumin to other NSAIDs such as sulindac,
synergistically augments neoplastic cell growth inhibition. Based on these
finding we received an IRB approval to evaluate celecoxib+curcumin in
patients with osteoarthritis, pancreatic cancer and metastatic CRC. We hope
to complete these novel human clinical trials, in 12-18 months.