Researchers in Johns Hopkins School of Medicine reported that curcumin and quercetin, compounds found in curry and onion, may help prevent colon cancer.

This was according to a small study involving patients with pre-cancerous polyps called familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). FAP is an inherited growth in colorectal area which could eventually transform into colon cancer.

In the study, these patients were given a pill containing combination of curcumin (found in the curry spice turmeric) and quercetin (an antioxidant found in onions). The study subjects received 480mg of curcumin and 20mg of quercertin tds. They experienced a significant reduction in the size (by 51%) and number of polyps (by 60%) from baseline after a mean of 6 months.

Side effects were minimal with nausea and sour taste being the commonest, but subsided after 3 days. Patients also reported mild diarrhoea.

The research team was very encouraged and believed that curcumin was the key cancer-fighting agent because the amount was many times what a person might ingest in a typical diet. The amount of quercetin administered was similar to what they may get from normal diet.

Larger trials comparing curcumin-quercetin with placebo are needed to confirm these findings.

_{SOURCE: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, August 2006.}

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