Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus), the Potential Anti-Gastric/Stomach Cancer Antioxidant

By Kyle J. Norton

Gastric or mouth cancer is a chronic and medical condition characterized by abnormal cells growing in the tissues of the stomach.

The stomach formed part of the digestive system and located between the esophagus and the small intestine, is a muscular, hollow of the digestive tract.

Most cases of gastric or mouth cancer start in the mucus-producing cells of the inside lining of the stomach due to the alternation of DNA. Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of gastric cancer.

At the early stage, due to the small size of the tumor, most patients with gastric cancer are asymptomatic. 

However, as cancer continues to grow, it may induce general symptoms shared by all cancer and specific symptoms such as mild ache in the upper part of the body, difficulty of swallowing, feeling full or bloated after a small meal, vomiting blood or having blood in the stool.

At this stage, gastric cancer also induces secondary metastasis, by infecting other healthy tissues and organ far away from the original site.

Out of many risk factor associated with the onset of gastric cancer including diet, long-term inflammation of the stomach, smoking, and obesity, some researchers suggested low levels gastric acid production by the stomach may have a strong implication in facilitating the onset of the condition.

Dr. Helge L. Waldum, the lead scientist in the analysis of the correlation  between 

Helicobacter pylori and gastric acid, wrote, "Helicobacter pylori (Hp) is the main cause of gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric cancer. There are still unanswered questions related to the interaction between Hp and man, like what determines the susceptibility for the initial infection and the mechanisms for the carcinogenic effect".

And, "The initial infection seems to require a temporal gastric hypoacidity. For Hp to survive in the gastric mucous layer, some acidity is necessary. Hp itself is probably not directly carcinogenic. Only when inducing oxyntic mucosal inflammation and atrophy with hypoacidity, Hp predisposes for gastric cancer. Gastrin most likely plays a central role in the Hp pathogenesis of duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer".

The cucumber plant is a species of Cucumis Sativus, belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae and native to Western Asia. It is also a creeping vine with roots in the ground and grows up with the support of frames.

With an aim to find a potential compound for the treatment of gastric cancer, researchers examined the effect of Ecballium elaterium (L.) A. Rich (Cucurbitaceae) (squirting cucumber) on cell lines of gastric and esophageal origin namely called AGS (human gastric carcinoma) and KYSE30 (human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma).

The study included AGS and KYSE30 cancer cell lines incubated for 24, 48, and 72 h with an aqueous extract of the fruits of E. elaterium prepared and freeze-dried.

In AGS, at the IC(50) values of 2.5, 0.7, and 0.7 μg/ml, the aqueous extract for cell line after 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively showed significant induction of cell apoptosis.

Similarly, KYSE30 cell line induced apoptosis was found at IC(50) values for KYSE30 cell line in doses of 500, 150, and 125 μg/ml after 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively.

Furthermore, the injection of the extract also showed a significant increase in cell density at the G2/M phase, according to cell cycle analysis.

Moreover, the efficacy of the extract against gastric cancer cell lines was attributed to several compounds in the induction of cytotoxicity.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "The results of the current study showed that the freeze-dried aqueous extract of E. elaterium fruit has a cytotoxic effect on gastric and esophageal cancer cell lines by means of apoptosis".

In order to reveal more information of cucumber anti-gastric cancer activity, researchers investigated the effects of  Cucurbitacin B (CuB), a natural compound found in Cucurbitaceae in cisplatin (DDP)-resistant human GC cell line SGC7901/DDP.

According to the tested assays, CuB treatment significantly suppressed SGC7901/DDP cell proliferation, induced caspase-dependent apoptosis, and autophagy. 

Interestingly, the activation of autophagy was mediated through CuB- inhibition of the protein (TORC1) involved the regulation of cancer cell growth and survival.

In order to reveal more information of CuB anti-gastric cancer potency, scientists examined the CuB activity as a cancerous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A (CIP2A), a human oncoprotein that is overexpressed in multiple kinds of tumors including gastric cancer (GC).

In cisplatin (DDP)-resistant human GC cell line SGC7901/DDP, CuB treatment exerted a similar effect as of that of the aforementioned study in the inhibition of SGC7901/DDP cell proliferation, induced caspase-dependent apoptosis, and autophagy. 

Moreover, CuB inhibited mTORC1 as showed in the previous study via the inhibition of CIP2A which activates the protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) in the induction of cancer cell proliferation.

Based on the results, researchers said, "CuB can inhibit the proliferation, induce caspase-dependent apoptosis, and autophagy of SGC7901/DDP cells by suppressing CIP2A/PP2A/mTORC1 signaling axis".

Taken altogether, cucumber processed a high amount of Cucurbitacin B (CuB) as the main ingredient may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of Cucurbitacin B (CuB) in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Cytotoxic effect of freeze-dried extract of Ecballium elaterium fruit on gastricadenocarcinoma (AGS) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (KYSE30) cell lines by Bohlooli S1, Jafari N, Jahed S. (PubMed)
(2) Cucurbitacin B induces autophagy and apoptosis by suppressing CIP2A/PP2A/mTORC1 signaling axis in human cisplatin resistant gastric cancercells by Liu X1, Duan C1, Ji J1, Zhang T1, Yuan X1, Zhang Y1, Ma W1, Yang J2, Yang L2, Jiang Z2, Yu H2, Liu Y1. (PubMed)
(3) Helicobacter pylori and gastric acid: an intimate and reciprocal relationship by Helge L. Waldum, Per M. Kleveland, and Øystein F. Sørdal. (PMC)