Get Dr. Dressler's Dog Cancer Diet FREE Dogs will occasionally get tumors involving the stomach and intestine. Not as commonly as humans do, but we see it nonetheless. And for those dealing canine cancer, it does not matter how common one or another cancer is if your dog has it!
One of the approaches used to help these cancers are certain chemotherapy drugs. These drugs interfere with an enzyme that is a central player in inflammation in the body. Read the science here. And here. The enzyme is called COX-2.
Now, we are always looking for options to get better successes in the field of dog cancer. If we can access a treatment that helps more than the old one, why not consider it? Since we have not yet found the cure, we are engaged in the search for something better.
Well, guess what. Sometimes good old mother nature already has the answer. And this answer may already be known in one way or another, by millions of people.
What am I talking about? I would say there are millions of people who eat curry. Maybe even hundreds of millions or billions, I don’t know. At any rate, the stuff in traditional curry that makes it yellow is called turmeric. Turmeric contains a molecule called curcumin.
This stuff has the ability to inhibit COX-2.
Well, that is pretty nice! And guess what else? For all intents and purposes, curcumin is not toxic. Humans eat up to 8 grams a day with no adverse effects (that’s a lot folks, we are talking horse pills). And to top it off, it is nice for us humans to be the guinea pigs for dogs, and not the other way around for a change!
In real bodies, curcumin was shown to block a process called angiogenesis. Read more here. This process is used in tumors to make the body branch new blood vessels in the direction of the cancer. This provides a food source pipeline for tumors and helps the tumors spread (metastasis).
This stuff has also slowed tumor growth and metastasis in real bodies. For real back-up, read this abstract.
How to get curcumin? One easy source is upcoming Apocaps, a combination nutraceutical. You can also find it by itself online mixed with bromelain. If you are using it by itself (not in Apocaps), a dosing protocol would be about 200 mg for a 50 lb dog, given three times a day.
Here is some published literature on this exciting topic.
One of the limitations with curcumin is that it is not that well absorbed into the blood after being taken by mouth. We would like benefits with cancers elsewhere in the body too, not just lining the stomach and intestines.
For example, squamous cell carcinomas, lipomas, liposarcomas, and fibrosarcomas seem to do pretty well with curcumin supplementation, but the stuff has to get in the bloodstream.
There are way to deal with this. You can combine it with lecithin, a gooey foodstuff that can be bought online. I will say it is a bit of a nuisance to give since curcumin stains everything it touches bright yellow. But that is a way to boost blood levels. You don’t have to do this with Apocaps by the way.
So the weight of evidence points to curcumin’s usefulness. How about side effects?
Well, the data on this is small. If your dog is already using drugs that inhibit the same enzymes as curcumin does, certain steps should be taken under veterinary supervision. I suggest lowering the dose of these meds by about 50-75% for most dogs. They include Metacam, Rimadyl, Deramaxx, Prixocam, Etogesic, Previcoxx, and so on.
If your dog is on corticosteroids like prednisone, prednisolone, triamcinolone or dexamethasone, the same advice holds.
If your dog has ulcers, or has problems with the gall bladder, you should probably avoid it to be safe, even though the risks are not high there will be a problem.
Definitely talk to your vet before starting any treatment plan for your dog.
If you would like to read more about curcumin for your dog and similar topics, check out the The Dog Cancer Survival Guide.
Best to all,
Dr D
About the Author
Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM is known as the "dog cancer vet" and is author of Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Beyond Surgery, Chemotherapy & Radiation. Visit his blog and sign up free to get the latest information about canine cancer. Go to http://DogCancerBlog.com.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
The vet gave my Collie Max two months last April ..he had a peri-anal adenoma and shadows on his lungs so the vet would not excise the tumor and said there was no hope ….I read up on Dr Aggawal where he said 8 grams of curcumin for humans so I started Max on five grams a day …. This is March and the Vet could not believe how much better he was and went ahead and removed the tumor and Max is back to his old self…Needless to say I`m a big fan of curcumin…Ed
Dr. Dressler,
My Cairn was diagnosed with lymphoma last June. I started him on Curcumin and several other herbs and he is still with us! I also give him Neoplasene and think that has helped too. Life Extensions (lef.org) has a form of Curcumin that is highly absorbable. They also have most of the other things that I give my Cairn and are a great source of information. My Cairn is still doing well and its been almost a year. The vets gave him no more than 2 months without chemo which we chose not to do. Thank you for all you do to guide us through this difficult time. Lynne
Dear Lynne,
That is wonderful news! Good work, and I am so pleased to hear your Cairn is doing well!
By the way, do you happen to have any literature from life extensions that documents blood levels of their curcumin product after oral dosing? It would sure be helpful so see how they are dealing with this challenge.
Best,
Dr D
Dear Ed, I am glad to hear this great news!
Best,
Dr D
We heat up curcumin in coconut milk. Both the fat in the milk and the heat theoretically increase absorption. We just put the capsules directly in the milk — they just dissolve with the heat — and warm it in a saucepan (or the microwave). We grind freeze-dried liver treats up into a powder and mix that into the curcumin-coconut milk and our dog finds it a real treat.
We also make sure the curcumin we use is the C3 kind (patented by the Sabina corp) — I think that’s the kind most often used in trials (but am not positive of this). It also contains bioperene for increased absorption. In my experience the Doctor’s Best seems to be able to be blended into the milk a little easier than the NSI (those are the two we’ve found that are the C3).
Our 12-year-old dog was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (and a fractured spine) in July of last year — her last xray showed that the fracture had healed; in addition, her bloodwork shows that she is continually improving. I don’t know for sure, but think that the curcumin is a big part of that (along with the other supplements we use, most of which I learned about in your book).
So try the coconut milk. I found it much easier to administer.
Are there certain types of cancers in which curcumin supplementation might actually stimulate tumor growth? Most of what I’ve read on curcumin supports what you are saying but I came across one study that claimed that rather than inhibiting the growth of tumors, it had the opposite effect.
Our oncologist suspects my dog’s primary cancer is an osteosarcoma in his hind leg. But he also has large masses in his abdomen and nodules in his lungs. Would the use of curcumin be beneficial with this type of cancer? And if so, is this something I can purchase in a health food store such as Whole Foods? Is there a particular form that it needs to be in? I have been feeding tumeric but I’m now thinking this is probably not what he needs, correct?
Denise,
Could you please provide a link to your source?
There is some evidence that curcumin may help long term health of dogs. The easiest source is Apocaps (of course I am partial to it since I use it in my own patients!)
Best,
Dr D