Wilken, R; Veena, MS; Wang, MB; Srivatsan, E
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-kappa B and downstream gene products
(including c-myc, Bcl-2, COX-2, NOS, Cyclin D1, TNF-alpha, 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.