Curcumin: Pharmacological actions and its role in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma - A review

Abstract

Curcumin is derived from turmeric and has a variety of therapeutic properties. Various research on curcumin have showed that it also exhibits anti-cancer properties. It is known to act on tumor cells via its effect on a variety of biological pathways involved in mutagenesis, oncogene expression, cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, tumorigenesis, and metastasis. Curcumin has shown anti-proliferative effect in multiple cancers, and is an inhibitor of the transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-Kb) and downstream gene products (including c-myc, Bcl-2, COX-2, NOS, Cyclin D1, TNF-a, interleukins and MMP-9). Curcumin is one such potential candidate, and this review presents an overview of the current in vitro and in vivo data supporting its therapeutic activity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) as well as some of the challenges concerning its development as an adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent.