Shahar Lev-Ari, Dov Lichtenberg, Nadir Arber
Celecoxib (Celebrex, Pfizer, NY, USA) is a worldwide top branded COX-2-specific inhibitor. It was shown to provide relief of arthritic pain and inflammation and has recently been under investigation for the prevention and treatment of cancer. However, recent studies showed that long term use of high doses of celecoxib is associated with an increased cardiovascular toxicity. We discovered that the addition of curcumin, a natural COX-2 inhibitor, to celecoxib synergistically (up to 1000%) augments the growth inhibitory effects of celecoxib in in-vitro and in-vivo models of arthritis and cancer, thus rendering effective action of the drug at up to tenfold lower dose...
January 2008: Recent Patents on Anti-cancer Drug Discovery