Curcumin anti‐tumor effects on endometrial cancer with focus on its molecular targets

Abstract

Curcumin is extracted from turmeric and shows a variety of properties that make it a useful agent for treating diseases and targeting different biological mechanisms, including apoptosis, angiogenesis, inflammation, and oxidative stress. This phenolic compound is safe even at high doses. However, it has poor bioavailability. The incidence rates of endometrial cancer (EC) that is one of the most prevalent gynecological malignancies is increasing. Meanwhile, the onset age of EC has been decreased in past few years. Besides, EC does not show a convenient prognosis, particularly at advanced stages. Based on this information, discovering new approaches or enhancing the available ones is required to provide better care for EC patients. In this review, we cover studies concerned with the anti-tumor effects of curcumin on EC. We focus on molecular mechanisms that are targeted by curcumin treatment in different processes of cancer development and progression, such as apoptosis, inflammation, and migration. Furthermore, we present the role of curcumin in targeting some microRNAs (miRNAs) that may play a role in EC.