Abstract
Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is a polyphenol derived from the Curcuma longa plant, commonly known as turmeric. Curcumin has been used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries, as it is nontoxic and has a variety of therapeutic properties including anti-oxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic activity. More recently curcumin has been found to possess anti-cancer activities 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 NF-κB and downstream gene products (including c-myc, Bcl-2, COX-2, NOS, Cyclin D1, TNF-α, interleukins and MMP-9). In addition, curcumin affects a variety of growth factor receptors and cell adhesion molecules involved in tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and treatment protocols include disfiguring surgery, platinum-based chemotherapy and radiation, all of which may result in tremendous patient morbidity. As a result, there is significant interest in developing adjuvant chemotherapies to augment currently available treatment protocols, which may allow decreased side effects and toxicity without compromising therapeutic efficacy. 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 cancer as well as some of the challenges concerning its development as an adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent.
Highlights
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common form of cancer worldwide and represents approximately 5% of all cancers diagnosed annually in the United States [1,2]
Curcumin has been shown to suppress the expression of cyclin D1 in many types of cancer including head and neck, colon, bladder, breast, cervical and pancreatic carcinomas, an effect attributed to curcumin’s inhibition of NFB activation and subsequent suppression of downstream gene products [48,53,108,109,122,123,124]
Mouse model: Inhibition of oral carcinogenesis in vitro and mouse model: Synergistic anti-tumor [188] effect of Curcumin and cisplatin in CAL 27 and UMSCC1 cell lines in vitro and mouse model: Radiosensitization of SCC- [189,190] 1, SCC-9, A431, and KB HNSCC cell lines with curcumin derivatives such as everolimus, deforolimus and temserolimus may prove useful in the treatment of refractory head and neck cancers
Summary
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common form of cancer worldwide and represents approximately 5% of all cancers diagnosed annually in the United States [1,2]. Curcumin has been shown to suppress the expression of cyclin D1 in many types of cancer including head and neck, colon, bladder, breast, cervical and pancreatic carcinomas, an effect attributed to curcumin’s inhibition of NFB activation and subsequent suppression of downstream gene products [48,53,108,109,122,123,124]. Mouse model: Inhibition of oral carcinogenesis in vitro and mouse model: Synergistic anti-tumor [188] effect of Curcumin and cisplatin in CAL 27 and UMSCC1 cell lines in vitro and mouse model: Radiosensitization of SCC- [189,190] 1, SCC-9, A431, and KB HNSCC cell lines with curcumin derivatives such as everolimus, deforolimus and temserolimus may prove useful in the treatment of refractory head and neck cancers. A Phase II trial of bortezomib in combination with docetaxel in recurrent and/or metastatic HNSCC was welltolerated and demonstrated better therapeutic response in tumors expressing lower levels of NF-B associated genes [219]
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