Chilis Put the Heat On Cancer

Sept. 3, 2002 -- Hot chili peppers not only fire up your food, they may also put the heat on cancer cells and force them to self-destruct. A new study shows a natural substance found in chili peppers kills cancer cells by starving them of oxygen.

Researchers tested the chili pepper substance (known as capsaicin) along with a related compound (resiniferatoxin) on human skin cancer cells to analyze how the cells reacted. Both compounds are natural substances known as vanilloids.

They found that the majority of the skin cancer cells exposed to the substances died. The researchers say these substances seem to kill cells by damaging the cell membranes and limiting the amount of oxygen that reaches the cancer cells.

Study authors Numsen Hail Jr. and Reuben Lotan, PhD, of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston say if more studies confirm these findings, the compounds may eventually be used in skin patches or creams that could treat or prevent skin cancers.

Their study appears in the Sept. 4 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

In an editorial that accompanies the study, Young-Joon Surh, PhD, of the College of Pharmacy at Seoul National University in Korea, says the findings provide valuable insight into how capsaicin works within a cell.

But Surh says more research is needed to completely understand the process of how the substance causes cell death before it can be used as a potential cancer treatment. Until then, it could be argued that capsaicin might be poisonous to non-cancerous cells as well, he adds.