Chillies and Cancer - Up To Date Information Regarding Anti-Cancer Properties Of Chillies

The research raises the possibility that other cancer drugs could be developed to target the mitochondria.

The study showed that the family of molecules to which capsaicin belongs, the vanilloids, bind to proteins in the cancer cell mitochondria to trigger cell death, without harming surrounding healthy cells. Capsaicin was tested on cultures of human lung cancer cells and on samples from pancreatic cancers.

"The biochemistry of the mitochondria in cancer cells is very different from that in normal cells.

"This is an innate selective vulnerability of cancer cells."

He said a dose of capsaicin that could cause a cancer cell to die, would not have the same effect on a normal human cell.

The fact that capsaicin and other vanilloids are already commonly found in the diet proves they are safe to eat, which means this could make development of a drug containing them a much quicker and cheaper process.

However, Josephine Querido, cancer information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "This research does not suggest that eating vast quantities of chilli pepper will help prevent or treat cancer."

Unfortunately it doesn't mean we can just eat chillies and be cancer free as the capsaicin simply travels through your digestive system and gets excreted with all the other stuff your body didn't want. It will need to be applied or injected to have any effect, just like capsaicin cream for arthritis - Nigel