The Role Suicidal Cells Play in Cancer Prevention

How are cancer cells different from normal cells? That’s a simple yet complicated question to ask. One of the words you will hear pop up often, though, is apoptosis. If you’re learning about the science of cancer, you’ll learn that apoptosis plays a major role in all cancer types, regardless of species.

Apoptosis, commonly referred to as cell suicide (I know, it sounds harsh, but it’s a good thing! ), allows the body to get rid of damaged cells or cells that are no longer of any use. Cell suicide is a completely natural process, and it happens every day in every animal. 

Take a look at your dog’s paws. Those were created by apoptosis. Many cells that make up the paw need to commit cell suicide in order to form those perfect little paws into the proper shape and size. 

It’s kind of like an ‘on/off’ switch. The body tells cells when the apoptosis switch needs to be turned on. Then again, tell the cells when the apoptosis switch needs to be turned off. 

Suicidal Cells and Cancer

Apoptosis is a critical component of our dog’s (and our own) health. The genes that control apoptosis are built into the DNA of every cell and continuously monitor a cell’s health. Is the cell damaged? Has the cell been affected by a virus or bacteria? Is the cell getting too old to work properly? 

What happens when the apoptosis switch isn’t working properly? Well, that’s where cancer comes in. Cancer occurs when apoptosis is not functioning properly or is not functioning at all.

Without the apoptosis switch being turned on when necessary, cancer cells continue to live and thrive. Cancer cells don’t commit cell suicide; they just keep growing.

Cancer cells act as a type of hijacker in our dog’s body. The body doesn’t recognize them as being “bad” and allows them to grow and spread throughout the body. All cancer types have a lack of apoptosis. 

Using Nutraceuticals to Trigger Apoptosis

Apoptosis is a complicated process, but fortunately, we are discovering new advances in science every day. Most recent discoveries have found adaptogens (agents to turn on the apoptosis switch) can be found through diet. 

A specialized diet can trigger apoptosis genes to turn on. 

Feed Luteolin-Rich Foods

Luteolin is a bioflavonoid found in celery, green peppers, peanut hulls, and artichokes. Luteolin has been found to induce apoptosis in cancer cells using several mechanisms.

One of the biggies involves not feeding the cancer to begin with. Luteolin starves the cancer cells by interfering with glycolysis (cancer loves sugar; luteolin disrupts their sugar intake).

Luteolin has also been found to destroy the ability of cancer cells to replicate their DNA and cut off their blood supply, making it more difficult for the cancer cells to spread (metastasize) to other portions of the body. 

Scientifically, according to research, “this flavonoid and its glycosides are widely distributed in the plant kingdom; they are present in many plant families and have been identified in Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Pinophyta, and Magnoliophyta. Dietary sources of luteolin include, for instance, carrots, peppers, celery, olive oil, peppermint, thyme, rosemary, and oregano. 

Researchers continued to state, “Preclinical studies have shown that this flavone possesses a variety of pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities. The ability of luteolin to inhibit angiogenesis, to induce apoptosis, to prevent carcinogenesis in animal models, to reduce tumor growth in vivo and to sensitize tumor cells to the cytotoxic effects of some anticancer drugs suggests that this flavonoid has cancer chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic potential.” 

Curcumin for Dogs’ Cancer Prevention

Turmeric is a common Indian spice commonly found in curry dishes. One of the bioflavonoids of turmeric—curcumin—has been found to be extremely advantageous to the body. First of all, curcumin has been found to turn the apoptosis switch back on.

Curcumin has also been found to slow the process of angiogenesis (cancer’s ability to develop blood vessels to eat), resulting in cancer cells essentially starving to death. And it puts a damper on DNA replication. 

A study published by Nutrients stated that “curcumin, a polyphenol extracted from Curcuma longa in 1815, has gained attention from scientists worldwide for its biological activities (e.g., antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral), among which its anticancer potential has been the most described and still remains under investigation.” 

The study continued to state that “the therapeutic benefits of curcumin have been demonstrated in multiple chronic diseases: inflammation, arthritis, metabolic syndrome, liver disease, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases, and, above all, in several cancers.” 

A High-Quality Diet is Crucial to Your Dog’s Health

The ultimate goal is to keep the apoptosis switch turned on. Our dog’s normal, healthy cells die naturally. But cancer cells do not.

They continue replicating until we do something to make them stop, or until their diet or a supplement helps us starve them and turn the cell suicide switch back on. That’s one of the many reasons a high-quality dog cancer diet is so critical when you are on your dog cancer journey. 

As someone who was once not involved with holistic options, I understand how mind-blowing it is to know how much of a difference diet can make for dogs and people with cancer. To be honest, it’s something I didn’t used to believe in. Now, with years of education and experience, I understand the science behind nutrition and the importance of a well-balanced, specific cancer diet. 

For further reading, we recommend:

Apoptosis: a basic biological phenomenon with wide-ranging implications in tissue kinetics

Why target apoptosis in cancer treatment?

Therapeutic targeting of death pathways in cancer: mechanisms for activating cell death in cancer cells

Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation: Cell

Luteolin enhances paclitaxel-induced apoptosis in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells by blocking STAT3