Curcumin: the spicy modulator of breast carcinogenesis

Abstract

Worldwide breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. For many years clinicians and the researchers are examining and exploring various therapeutic modalities for breast cancer. Yet the disease has remained unconquered and the quest for cure is still going on. Present-day strategy of breast cancer therapy and prevention is either combination of a number of drugs or a drug that modulates multiple targets. In this regard natural products are now becoming significant options. Curcumin exemplifies a promising natural anticancer agent for this purpose. This review primarily underscores the modulatory effect of curcumin on the cancer hallmarks. The focus is its anticancer effect in the complex pathways of breast carcinogenesis. Curcumin modulates breast carcinogenesis through its effect on cell cycle and proliferation, apoptosis, senescence, cancer spread and angiogenesis. Largely the NFkB, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, MAPK and JAK/STAT are the key signaling pathways involved. The review also highlights the curcumin mediated modulation of tumor microenvironment, cancer immunity, breast cancer stem cells and cancer related miRNAs. Using curcumin as a therapeutic and preventive agent in breast cancer is perplexed by its diverse biological activity, much of which remains inexplicable. The information reviewed here should point toward potential scope of future curcumin research in breast cancer.

Ursolic acid induces apoptosis and autophagy in oral cancer cells

“…It has long been known that phytochemicals play chemopreventive and/or therapeutic roles in various diseases, including cancer. Curcumin in turmeric inhibits cell cycle progression and angiogenesis and induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells . Similarly, polyphenols in wine, tea, or grape juice have been shown to inhibit tumor growth and induce apoptosis in oral cancer .…”

“…Curcumin in turmeric inhibits cell cycle progression and angiogenesis and induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells. 35 Similarly, polyphenols in wine, tea, or grape juice have been shown to inhibit tumor growth and induce apoptosis in oral cancer. 36 In this study, the antiproliferative activity of UA, a triterpenoid, was found to be attributed to caspase-dependent apoptosis.…”

Molecular targets of curcumin in breast cancer (Review)

“…Curcumin significantly inhibits cyclophosphamide-induced regression of human breast cancer xenografts in mice (88,89). In cultures of MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and BT-474 human breast cancer cells, curcumin may inhibit the ability of camptothecin, mechlorethamine and doxorubicin to induce apoptosis by ≤70% (18,90). Curcumin may also serve as an iron chelator to inhibit hypoxia inducible factor-α prolyl hydroxylase activity (91).…”

“…The polyphenolic phytochemical curcumin [1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1, 6-heptadiene-3,5-dione; Fig. 1], isolated from the powdered rhizome of Curcuma longa L. (Zingiberaceae) (17,18), interacts with numerous biological targets, including inflammatory mediators, growth factors, enzymes, carrier proteins, metal ions, tumor suppressors, transcription factors, oncoproteins and cellular nucleic acids (19)(20)(21). Discovered in 1815 by Vogel and Pelletier as a yellow pigment (4), curcumin has been consumed for >2,000 years in Asian countries, due to its various medicinal properties against human diseases, including cancer and auto-immune diseases (10,17,(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29).…”

Curcumin‐mediated demethylation of the proximal promoter CpG island enhances the KLF4 recruitment that leads to increased expression of p21Cip1 in vitro

“…Moreover, these results coincided with multiple previous reports on the antiproliferative effect of curcumin in vitro conditions. 27,28 Now, as the cancer cells attain uncontrolled cell growth, the effect of curcumin on the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor like p21 was assessed. We observed that curcumin caused a significant increase in the relative expression of p21 mRNA ( Figure 1A) as well as p21 protein ( Figure 1B and 1C) in all four cell lines after 24 hours.…”