Abstract
Background Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) contributes globally to a great number of deaths and morbidity, in spite of new therapeutic strategies. There is a great need of new drugs that are significantly effective and less deleterious to the patients' general health. In this sense, phytotherapy is a tendency, with results pointing to its use as a chemo-preventive and adjuvant therapy. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review was to investigate the effects of curcumin on proliferation and survival of HNSCC. Materials and methods The search was conducted on six databases: Cochrane, LILACS, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Web of Science. In vitro and in vivo studies that evaluated the effects of curcumin on cell viability, tumor growth, cell cycle and/or cell death pattern in HNSCC cell lines or animal models were selected. Results Of the 525 initially gathered studies, 30 met the inclusion criteria. These studies demonstrated that curcumin induces cytotoxicity, apoptosis (via intrinsic pathway), and cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase in HSNCC cell lines. It also reduces tumor measurements in animal models. These events were mostly studied through MTT assay, flow cytometry, and cell cycle- and apoptosis-related proteins expression. Conclusion This systematic review demonstrated that curcumin is effective on HNSCC cell proliferation and survival, reinforcing the currently available evidence that curcumin could be an adjuvant drug in HNSCC treatment.
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