A spicy food ingredient inhibits the growth of cancer cells.
Curry component used to treat cancer
Researchers have found that combining curcumin and silymarin - two plant ingredients - may be the way forward in treating colon cancer.
While silymarin is a component found in milk thistle and is used to treat liver disease, curcumin, a basic spice, can be found in most curries.
Author and associate professor of biomedical laboratory science at SLU, Uthayashanker Ezekiel, Ph.D., told the MedicalXpress: ''The combination of phytochemicals inhibited colon cancer cells from multiplying and spreading.
''In addition, when the colon cancer cells were pre-exposed to curcumin and then treated with silymarin, the cells underwent a high amount of cell death.''