Open AccessCurcumin: Pharmacological actions and its role in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma - A review
Author(s) -
Abhijeet Alok,
I. D. Singh,
Shivani Singh,
Abhinav K. Jha
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of indian academy of oral medicine and radiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 0975-1572
pISSN - 0972-1363
DOI - 10.4103/jiaomr.jiaomr_100_16
Subject(s) - curcumin , medicine , cancer research , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , oncogene , carcinogenesis , cyclin d1 , cell cycle , transcription factor , resveratrol , cancer , head and neck cancer , pharmacology , gene , biology , biochemistry
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