The Multifaceted Role of Curcumin in Cancer Prevention and Treatment

Abstract

Despite significant advances in treatment modalities over the last decade, neither the incidence of the disease nor the mortality due to cancer has altered in the last thirty years. Available anti-cancer drugs exhibit limited efficacy, associated with severe side effects, and are also expensive. Thus identification of pharmacological agents that do not have these disadvantages is required. Curcumin, a polyphenolic compound derived from turmeric (Curcumin longa), is one such agent that has been extensively studied over the last three to four decades for its potential anti-inflammatory and/or anti-cancer effects. Curcumin has been found to suppress initiation, progression, and metastasis of a variety of tumors. These anti-cancer effects are predominantly mediated through its negative regulation of various transcription factors, growth factors, inflammatory cytokines, protein kinases, and other oncogenic molecules. It also abrogates proliferation of cancer cells by arresting them at different phases of the cell cycle and/or by inducing their apoptosis. The current review focuses on the diverse molecular targets modulated by curcumin that contribute to its efficacy against various human cancers.

Curcumin inhibits hypoxia-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in pancreatic cancer cells via suppression of the hedgehog signaling pathway

“…Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is a bioactive natural compound and a large number of experimental studies have shown that curcumin is able to suppress initiation, progression and metastasis of a variety of tumors, including pancreatic cancer (10,24). Youns et al (24) reported that curcumin could inhibit pancreatic cancer cell proliferation and upregulate the extrinsic apoptotic pathway through activation of caspase-3, caspase-8, Bid, Bax and downregulation of NF-κB and Bcl-2 genes.…”

“…Accumulating evidence indicates that curcumin could inhibit tumor progression via multiple cellular signaling pathways, including MAPK, NF-κB, Akt, Wnt/β-catenin and Hh signaling pathway (10,12). The Hh signaling pathway, initiated through the binding of secreted Hh ligands to the membrane receptor patched1 (PTCH1), results in smoothened (SMO) dissociating, nuclear translocation and activation of the transcription factors of the GLI family.…”

“…Our recent study showed that hypoxic condition was able to induce EMT in HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells (6). Curcumin is a natural polyphenol present in turmeric that possess many biological activities, including anti-infectious, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and chemopreventive effects (10). Recent studies have shown that curcumin is able to inhibit the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of a variety of tumor cells (10,11).…”

“…Curcumin is a natural polyphenol present in turmeric that possess many biological activities, including anti-infectious, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and chemopreventive effects (10). Recent studies have shown that curcumin is able to inhibit the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of a variety of tumor cells (10,11). Multiple cellular signaling pathways have been proven to be regulated by curcumin in cancer treatment including mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), Akt, Wnt/β-catenin and others (10).…”

Therapeutic actions of curcumin in bone disorders

“…1 Curcumin has been demonstrated to possess multi-faced therapeutic actions and biological activities, including anti-infectious, anti-oxidant, antiinflammatory, thrombosuppressive, anti-arthritic, chemopreventive and anti-carcinogenic properties. [2][3][4] For example, curcumin has undergone more than 40 clinical trials for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and various human cancers. 5 In addition to its numerous biological activities, curcumin is well-tolerated by organism even after high peros dose administration.…”