Capsaicin and natural capsaicin-like compounds suppress metastasis in lung adenocarcinoma

Lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) accounts for the majority of all non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases. A substantial proportion of LAC patients present with local and distant metastasis at the time of their diagnosis. One of the earliest events of the metastatic process is the invasion of malignant cells through the surrounding extracellular basement membrane into the blood and lymph. The long-term goal of our laboratory is to identify nutrition-based agents which will suppress the growth and progression of human LACs. Capsaicin is the pungent ingredient of chili peppers. Published reports have revealed that capsaicin inhibits the invasion and metastasis of several types of human cancers including melanoma, prostate cancer, and cholangiosarcoma. However, the clinical application of capsaicin as an anti-cancer drug is limited by its unpleasant side-effect profile. This led us to compare the anti-metastatic activity of capsaicin with natural non-pungent capsaicin-like compounds, namely capsiate and capsiconia...