Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Apr 18;16(8):1554.
doi: 10.3390/cancers16081554.

The Role of Curcumin in Cancer: A Focus on the PI3K/Akt Pathway

Vasiliki Zoi  1 , Athanassios P Kyritsis  1 , Vasiliki Galani  2 , Diamanto Lazari  3 , Chrissa Sioka  1 , Spyridon Voulgaris  1   4 , Georgios A Alexiou  1   4
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Curcumin in Cancer: A Focus on the PI3K/Akt Pathway

Vasiliki Zoi et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Cancer is a life-threatening disease and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Despite significant advancements in therapeutic options, most available anti-cancer agents have limited efficacy. In this context, natural compounds with diverse chemical structures have been investigated for their multimodal anti-cancer properties. Curcumin is a polyphenol isolated from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa and has been widely studied for its anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancer effects. Curcumin acts on the regulation of different aspects of cancer development, including initiation, metastasis, angiogenesis, and progression. The phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) pathway is a key target in cancer therapy, since it is implicated in initiation, proliferation, and cancer cell survival. Curcumin has been found to inhibit the PI3K/Akt pathway in tumor cells, primarily via the regulation of different key mediators, including growth factors, protein kinases, and cytokines. This review presents the therapeutic potential of curcumin in different malignancies, such as glioblastoma, prostate and breast cancer, and head and neck cancers, through the targeting of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Keywords: PI3K; cancer; curcumin; glioblastoma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Examples of cancers against which curcumin has potential preventive and therapeutic effects.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Downstream effectors of the PI3K/Akt pathway. Arrows (→) or blocking arrows (--|) show the effects of the activation of AKT on different effectors (stimulation or inhibition, respectively). Each downstream effector is implicated in different cellular processes, which are highlighted with green (induction) or with red (inhibition).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Anti-tumor effect of curcumin on human glioblastoma through the downregulation of the PI3K/Akt pathway.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Siegel R.L., Miller K.D., Wagle N.S., Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2023. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2023;73:17–48. doi: 10.3322/caac.21763. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sung H., Ferlay J., Siegel R.L., Laversanne M., Soerjomataram I., Jemal A., Bray F. Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2021;71:209–249. doi: 10.3322/caac.21660. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Motofei I.G. Biology of cancer; from cellular and molecular mechanisms to developmental processes and adaptation. Semin. Cancer Biol. 2022;86:600–615. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2021.10.003. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Piña-Sánchez P., Chávez-González A., Ruiz-Tachiquín M., Vadillo E., Monroy-García A., Montesinos J.J., Grajales R., Gutiérrez de la Barrera M., Mayani H. Cancer Biology, Epidemiology, and Treatment in the 21st Century: Current Status and Future Challenges From a Biomedical Perspective. Cancer Control. 2021;28:10732748211038735. doi: 10.1177/10732748211038735. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yip H.Y.K., Papa A. Signaling Pathways in Cancer: Therapeutic Targets, Combinatorial Treatments, and New Developments. Cells. 2021;10:659. doi: 10.3390/cells10030659. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources