Curcumin: Causes And Consequences Of Curcumin

Curcumin has been found to be a potent inhibitor of tumour growth and cell proliferation. This activity is linked to curcumin’s antioxidant effect and free radical scavenging effect (Akram et al, 2010). It inhibits cancer development and progression, thereby targeting multiple steps to malignancy. It has the ability to act like a blocking agent thereby inhibiting the initiation step of cancer by preventing the activation of carcinogen, and also as a suppressing agent thereby inhibiting malignant cell proliferation during promotion of carcinogenesis (Hatcher et al, 2008). Fig 3.1a: Stages in tumour progression inhibited by curcumin (Hatcher et al, 2008).
Research has shown that cancer occurs as a result of the dysregulation of as many as 500 different gene products. Therefore the inhibition of a single gene product or cell signalling pathway is not the way to go about the treatment. Curcumin has multiple mechanisms by which it inhibits tumour growth and cancer either directly or indirectly. Curcumin has the ability to physically bind to as many as 33 different proteins (Kunnumakkara et al, 2008). The anti-tumour and anti-carcinogenic activities of curcumin are due to its antioxidant and free-radical scavenging ability as well as its
These interleukins are involved in tumour invasion and angiogenesis. Although blocking cytokines does not kill tumour cells neither does it prevent carcinogenesis, it is best used as an adjunct therapy. Recent research shows that curcumin inhibited IL-1, IL-2, IL-5, IL-8, IL-12 and IL-18 expression. Other pro-inflammatory cytokines inhibited by curcumin include monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, migration inhibition protein and macrophage inflammatory protein (Woo et al 2007, Tomita et al