Therapeutic Potential of Curcumin for the Treatment of Brain Tumors

Abstract

Brain malignancies currently carry a poor prognosis despite the current multimodal standard of care that includes surgical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation. As new therapies are desperately needed, naturally occurring chemical compounds have been studied for their potential chemotherapeutic benefits and low toxicity profile. Curcumin, found in the rhizome of turmeric, has extensive therapeutic promise via its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative properties. Preclinical in vitro and in vivo data have shown it to be an effective treatment for brain tumors including glioblastoma multiforme. These effects are potentiated by curcumin's ability to induce G2/M cell cycle arrest, activation of apoptotic pathways, induction of autophagy, disruption of molecular signaling, inhibition of invasion, and metastasis and by increasing the efficacy of existing chemotherapeutics. Further, clinical data suggest that it has low toxicity in humans even at large doses. Curcumin is a promising nutraceutical compound that should be evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of human brain tumors.

Efficacy of systemic temozolomide‐activated phage‐targeted gene therapy in human glioblastoma

“…In addition to TMZ, other therapeutic approaches can also be used to induce the Grp78 promoter, e.g., radiation therapy (Sun et al , ) and other chemotherapeutic drugs used for brain tumor treatment such as cisplatin (Mandic et al , ). Moreover, we demonstrated that safe anti‐cancer agents such as curcumin from natural sources, known for its ability to cross the BBB (Klinger & Mittal, ), have the potential to induce the RGD4C/AAVP‐ Grp78 vector promoter in human primary gliomas, consistent with previous studies reporting induction of the Grp78 in cancer cells, by curcumin, through the UPR pathway (Kim et al , ).…”

“…Curcumin, a natural and non‐toxic dietary plant‐based product, has been highlighted for its potential as an anti‐cancer agent, due to its ability to induce tumor cell death with no systemic side effects. Studies have shown that curcumin can prevent proliferation of cancer cells including GBM (Klinger & Mittal, ). Addition of curcumin to tumor cells at day 3 post‐transduction with RGD4C/AAVP‐ Grp78‐Luc vector resulted in a dose‐dependent increase of Luc gene expression that climbed markedly in the presence of 40 μM of curcumin (Fig EV1B).…”

Rescue Therapy in Patient with Glioblastoma Multiforme Combining Chemotherapy, Hyperthermia, Phytotherapy

“…For medullary impact in another therapeutic Institute had seen fit to suspend it for palliative therapy. The haematochemical and general condition improvement after strong supportive therapy lead to set a new specific treatment with bevacizumab [4,5] (tri-weekly basis and at a dose of 10 mg/kg), capacitive hyperthermia every other day (55 minutes each therapeutic session) [6][7][8], curcumin (100 mg four times daily) [9,10], Boswellia serrata (400 mg four times daily) [11].…”

Curcumin Affects HSP60 Folding Activity and Levels in Neuroblastoma Cells

“…The research aimed at the discovery of HSP60 inhibitors may be attractive and can lead to finding anticancer agents' adjuvants in combination with chemotherapy, thus to reduce both the adverse effects and drug resistance as well as increase the effective targeting of cancerous cells. In this field, curcumin, which is a polyphenolic compound found in turmeric, with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-aggregation properties, has been extensively studied for its neuroprotective effects [17][18][19]. Curcumin has numerous molecular targets, and its anti-tumoral mechanisms of action, including cellular proliferation, apoptosis, autophagy, angiogenesis, immune-modulation, invasion, and metastasis, have been widely studied [20].…”

“…Nevertheless, little is still known about its role in ameliorating the stress in cancer and its impact on the components of CS, which are the main regulators of cellular stress. On the other hand, the therapeutic benefits of curcumin, which is known to interfere with protein aggregation in neurodegenerative diseases, appear to be multifactorial and associated with the regulation of transcription factors functioning, or linked with the activity of different proteins [17][18][19][20]. Curcumin and several natural derived-products have been shown to regulate many members of HSPs.…”