Spice of Life: Curcumin and Dog Cancer
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Updated: August 5th, 2019
In researching topics for expanded treatments of dog cancer, I have discovered surprises aplenty.
Because of the desire for options beyond surgery, chemo and radiation for dog cancer, I chose to look in areas that I would have ignored just a few years back.
One of the hottest topics in cancer research right now is the dietary flavonoid group. This is just a bunch of substances that are found in foods which have beneficial effects against cancer.
We all know that certain foods or dietary choices have influence on cancer development and overall health. I came accross a statistic in human medicine that stated that about one third of cancers in people could have been prevented with lifestyle choices (this was excluding the effects of cigarette smoking).
One of the biggest lifestyle choices is the inclusion of certain foods that combat the effects of environmental carcinogens, genetic tendencies, trace water pharmaceuticals, viral DNA changes, dietary carcinogens, electrical field effects, and more.
Most of these naturally occuring flavanoids have very low toxicities. One of the biggies is curcumin.
Curcumin is found in turmeric, which is the spice that is used in curries. Curcumin is exceedingly interesting for dogs with cancer. It is one of the core ingredients I use in cancer supplement programs for my patients and I have seen literal shrinkage of different dog lumps, like hemangiosarcomas of the skin, fatty tumors (lipomas) , fibrosarcomas, and plasmacytomas. I rely on it a lot.
This substance is being used as a model for tons of anticancer drugs in development right now. Here is some info. Over 40 different curcumin analogs (new drugs using curcumin as a template) are being researched at Ohio State University.
Why not just use the curcumin, instead of going through all the bother of making these new drugs? There are two main reasons.
My grandfather left me these wise words: “When you want to find the reason for something, look for the dollar.”
So of course money has something to do with it. You can’t patent a naturally occurring compound. However, if you tweak its structure to produce a synthetic analog, get the lawyers together to protect the intellectual property, patent it, you are set for years. In this way big pharma protects profits.
Secondly, curcumin has some bioavailability problems. This means that the stuff doesn’t, to a large extent, get absorbed into the blood after it is taken by mouth. However, there are ways around this.
If you want to find out more about curcumin, please read the next post!!
Best to all,
Dr Dressler
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
I used Low dose naltrexone for my Rott with sarcoma when he got brain mets and became hemiparetic and in severe pain.
In truth I hoped it would make him comfortable long enough for the ground to thaw as the vet could do nothing within my price range for a 14 yo dog.
In two days he no longer needed to be carried outside and rapidly progressed though his hemiparesis took a few months to resolve.
He had a wonderful last year after that but had to be put down the following spring.
My dog has just been diagnosed with Cushings disease. I was prescribed trilostane but after reading its effects I am very scared to use it. My dog Bear is 12, shepherd mix, and has always seemed healthy until now. He has pituitary dependent Cushings. I am thinking of using Cushex in conjuction with some form of curicumin ( which I was hoping may shrink the tumor on his pituitary gland). DO you have any advice on using the prescribed treatment, the Cushex, or the possibilities of Curicumin?
My corgi has recently been diagnosed with cushings. Started with the chushex drops there wonderfull he’s doing mush better. I also took him off dog food I cook for him now high protein, low sodium,low fiber,they need potassium,and low purien. He’s doing great.
Shelly. If you can get this message. Please get in touch with me. I need to ask you about frankincense
My male Neapolitan Mastiff (approx. 5 years old), a recent rescue in November 2012, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma of his lower right wrist area in the end of December 2012. He had an amputation in January, 2 weeks later, followed by 4 chemo treatments at U of Penn in Philadelphia, PA.
Prior starting chemo, a CT scan did not show any evidence of tumors.
Recently, a chest xray revealed that he has a few leasions in his lungs, we are devastated to see that tumors were apparently growing while on chemo treatments. We started him on the Dog Cancer Diet back in December 2012 along with Apocaps, K9 Transfer Factor and K9 Immunity. I just started him on K9 Immunity fish supplement and I cook for him in a crock pot, boneless chicken breasts, short grain brown rice, with mushrooms and veggies.
Dr. Dressler, is there anything else that I should be doing for him? Our next step is trying Palladia. I am open to any suggestions that you can offer. If anyone else can offer their experience with osteosarcoma expressing her2/neu, I would greatly appreciate any information that you have to offer
My dog was dianosed with intestinal lymphoma and I was told she would be dead within 4 weeks. She wouldn’t eat, had horrible diarrhea, and was fading. Within 4 days of giving my dog huge doses of frankincense (essential oil) and copaiba (for inflammation) she began to run. It’s been 4 months now with an extraordinary quality of life – which was the goal. She’s on a great Boswellia Complex by Medi Herb which has the much needed boswellic acid component, serata (studied by all the major cancer hospitals). It also has tumeric. The new Integrative supplement curcumax pro has the most bioavailable amount of tumeric along with Boswellia and the one offered by Thomas Koo from singapore looks good! Note to you all – it is also great for dogs with arthritis as it’s high anti-inflammatory and no side-effects! Better then any NSAID! So along with the oils and boswellia, I rebuilt her digestive system by strengthening it with Standard Process products made for pets (i.e. enteric support) and with fish oil. She’s eats all the time, has gained weight. We monitor her TK (cancer proliferation) and inflammation (CRP) with the lab out of Simi Valley, CA. This is the best way to monitor cancer growth and/or inflammation – period. My dog is in remission – no steroids, no chemo, and not even an antibiotic. Her inflammation is down by 50% and we still have a way to go. According to a consult at TUFTS the inflammation in her intestine was not due to cancer, although all the other doctors said so. It was because they understood by reading the numbers in the test – so rebuilding her immune and pushing antioxidents and giving her the supplements and nutrients to rebuild her proper digestive system along with the anti-inflammatory Frankincense that God put on the earth to help us heal thousands of years ago, is what helped. And I cook for her every day – beef and chicken and turkey – no carbs and no sugars (except for my yummy pumpkin/oatmeal treats I make).
Hello. My name is Madi and I have a 12 year old golden retriever mix. Over the past couple years she has developed a fairly large fatty tumor right under her arm pit and a few other small ones around her torso. She has been to the vet and checked out. They told us the tumor was a benign fatty cyst. Would curcumin be of any use to shrink this tumor and make her feel a bit more comfortable as she gets older? If so what dosage would be recommended.
Dear Madi
unfortunately we don’t have an at-home treatment for fatty tumors (regardless of the kind of fatty tumor, as there are different ones) that reliably shrinks these tumors. If you are looking for a source of curcumin, I would use the one complexed with other apoptogens found in Apocaps, under veterinary supervision.
http://www.apocaps.com
The dosing chart is on the side of the bottle.
I hope this helps
Dr D
I was wondering whether I can crush curcumin tablet (Doctor’s Best brand with bioperine) mix it with bacteriostatic water and inject it into my dog’s fatty tumor? I have a 5yr old Saint Bernard who seems to be in good health. In early December I’ve noticed a hard egg shaped tumor on his right side. I was told by a local vet that this tumor is attached to his ribs. Biopsy revealed fat cells only. Ive been giving him 1000mg curcumin orally together with fish oil capsules but the tumor has been steadily increasing in size and it is putting so much pressure on his ribs that on quite a few occasions, he started to yelping in pain. I think that curcumin injections might sound like a totally crazy idea but I think that logically it might actually make a lot of sense. Has anyone ever tried to treat fatty tumors with localized injections? What are your thoughts Dr. Dressler? BTW, http://www.curcuminresearch.org/ seems to be quite informative site.
Hi, my vet just said my dog, Emma,(bull terrier mix) has hemangiosarcoma on her skin.. I would like to confirm with a biopsy or histopathology. Can you suggest which is better? I also just ordered some curcumin, thank you. can I send you a picture of the spot he said is it. the spot grew in like 4 days. I was also thinking of trying to juice some marijuana leaves if I can find some for the CBD’s, and have her drink it.
Dear Suzanne
biopsy and histopathology are just different words for the same thing.
I would also read the Guide…you can do better than strait curcumin (like combining it with other apoptogens, immune support, cancer diet, etc).
Here is a post that might help
https://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/an-overview-of-what-else-can-i-do/
Don’t forget to have your vet supervise each step of your dog’s care…
Dr D
What is the best way to use cumin/ curcumin for lipomas and how effective is it? I have a 25 kg bassett hound and she is 10 years old. She is very healthy and has been on a raw diet for about 5 years. She just has quite a few now and one is quite big and has other ones on it. Any advice on if curcumin have any effect here and the best way to use it?
Dear Nell,
In my opinion the best way to deliver it is in Apocaps.
I see about 20-30% of dogs on curcumin have some shrinkage of their lipomas. Sometimes they go away, but not always.
Best,
Dr D
Our chocolate lab Roscoe, 12 yrs old has been to an oncologist for pets. We were told his spleen is enlarged a d he has way to much protein in his blood. Our vet sent us to the specialist because Roz would have a bloody nose, or blood from his mouth, and then blood was oozing from his penis. The dr put him on cancer meds that were very expensive and he had some improvement, but we just couldn’t afford it. I am looking for some homeopathic things that I can do to help us. He has started to lose control, and become lethargic. I have been searching the internet and read about tumeric and castor oil and other natural things to help. Can you give me some advice please? Thank You