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Review
. 2021 Jul 17;26(14):4329.
doi: 10.3390/molecules26144329.

Is Curcumin the Answer to Future Chemotherapy Cocktail?

Wei-Yang Kong  1 , Siew Ching Ngai  1 , Bey-Hing Goh  2   3 , Learn-Han Lee  4 , Thet-Thet Htar  2 , Lay-Hong Chuah  2
Affiliations
Review

Is Curcumin the Answer to Future Chemotherapy Cocktail?

Wei-Yang Kong et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

The rise in cancer cases in recent years is an alarming situation worldwide. Despite the tremendous research and invention of new cancer therapies, the clinical outcomes are not always reassuring. Cancer cells could develop several evasive mechanisms for their survivability and render therapeutic failure. The continuous use of conventional cancer therapies leads to chemoresistance, and a higher dose of treatment results in even greater toxicities among cancer patients. Therefore, the search for an alternative treatment modality is crucial to break this viscous cycle. This paper explores the suitability of curcumin combination treatment with other cancer therapies to curb cancer growth. We provide a critical insight to the mechanisms of action of curcumin, its role in combination therapy in various cancers, along with the molecular targets involved. Curcumin combination treatments were found to enhance anticancer effects, mediated by the multitargeting of several signalling pathways by curcumin and the co-administered cancer therapies. The preclinical and clinical evidence in curcumin combination therapy is critically analysed, and the future research direction of curcumin combination therapy is discussed.

Keywords: anticancer; cancer; chemotherapy cocktail; combination therapy; curcumin; signalling pathways.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The evasive mechanisms developed by cancer cells in response to cancer therapy.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Curcumin elicits various anticancer effects in cancer treatment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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