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Curcumin As A Potential Therapeutic Agents In Breast Cancers

Curcumin As A Potential Therapeutic Agents In Breast Cancers

Curcumin- The golden nutraceutical

Curcumin, or Curcuma longa, is a phenolic chemical coming from the turmeric plant, which belongs to the Zingiberaceae family. This natural herb, which is yellow is a common spice and food colouring ingredient. Curcumin has many biological properties, including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer, and antidiabetic properties. Curcumin is a prospective medicine for the treatment of human ailments such as infections, neurological diseases, and diabetes and for decreasing cancer cell proliferation and metastasis while increasing cell cycle arrest or death in certain cancer cells. Despite all of these advantages, curcumin's therapeutic use in clinical medicine and bioavailability is under restrictions due to its low solubility and instability in water; poor bioavailability; and poor cellular absorption.

Also Read: Curcumin: A Natural Boon in cancer

Curcumin structural modification by the manufacture of curcumin-based derivatives is a potential method that could overcome these constraints. Novel curcumin derivatives can address curcumin's limitations while improving overall efficacy and reducing drug resistance. 

Curcumin and its derivates 

We structurally modify curcumin to produce molecules with numerous biological actions that can treat disorders like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases. Curcumin's physicochemical and pharmacokinetic qualities improve because we change its chemical structure, which not only increases its pharmacological activity and influences receptor binding. Because of the high level of methoxylation, the unsaturation of the diketone moiety, and the low level of hydrogenation, certain additional derivatives have exhibited superior anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties when compared to curcumin. Curcumin component in comparison to analogues, numerous hydrogenated curcumin analogues show strong antioxidant activity. Furthermore, when compared to normal cells, curcumin derivatives had enhanced cytotoxicity against a variety of tumour cell types.

Curcumin and its derivatives are anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and anti-oxidant agents in healthcare. According to reports, we synthesize curcumin compounds for better efficacy in treatments. Clinical experiments have demonstrated that increasing the overall potential activity of medicines like curcumin can improve their biological activity. Curcumin has anti-cancer capabilities due to its effect on a variety of biological processes. It is a part of mutagenesis, oncogene expression, carcinogenesis, cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, and metastasis. And also can be effective at various stages of cancer growth.

As a result, substantial efforts towards the synthesis of novel curcumin derivatives to alleviate the limits and increase the anticancer properties of curcumin. Curcumin's anticancer effect in vivo and in vitro demonstrated that it can inhibit carcinogenesis and tumour cell proliferation in a variety of tumour cell types. Also, curcumin derivatives have anti-cancer properties in prostate, colon, and breast cancer cell lines.

Curcumin and its Derivatives Take on Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the world's second most frequent malignancy among women. Breast cancer cases are still high and increasing despite chemotherapy, lumpectomy, endocrine therapy, and radiation therapy. As a result, developing effective treatment medicines is critical. Cancer stem cells play a critical role in cancer genesis, resistance, and therapeutic progression, particularly in breast cancer. Some natural materials with low toxicity and a variety of biological features are a treatment for diseases including breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women worldwide. It accounts for around 25% of all cancer cases, with a higher frequency in developed nations. Curcumin has anticarcinogenic and antiproliferative properties in a variety of tumour tissues and animals in the majority of studies. According to studies, curcumin can also promote apoptosis when used in combination with other anticancer medicines.

In breast cancer cells, curcumin and its molecular targets influence apoptosis, cell phase-related genes, and microRNA. The derivatives have a key role in breast cancer carcinogenesis. Curcumin derivatives, according to another study by Liu H T, limit the multiplication of breast cancer stem cells. These molecular targets have also been shown to block stem-like features and influence the EMT (epithelial-mesenchymal transition) process in studies.

Curcumin derivatives in clinical trials for breast cancer

Curcumin derivatives in clinical trials for breast cancer

In metastatic and advanced breast cancer patients, Bayet-Robert established the tolerance, possibility, and safety of combining curcumin with docetaxel. Curcumin in combination with docetaxel was the subject of the first clinical trial in patients with metastatic or advanced breast cancer. Docetaxel was administered as a monotherapy in metastatic breast cancer at a standard dose in anthracycline-pretreated patients in this Phase 1 trial conducted by Khazaei Koohpar Z for breast cancer patients. There was no higher frequency of haematological toxicity in the studied combination. Overexpression of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is linked to larger tumours, greater metastasis, and a worse prognosis in metastatic breast cancer patients. After three cycles of treatment, the combination of curcumin and docetaxel dramatically lowered VEGF levels. Thus the randomised clinical study confirmed the efficacy of curcumin in combination with other anticancer medicines in metastatic cancer.

Curcumin and its derivatives thus give a new chemotherapeutic platform, and curcumin derivatives overcome limitations and improve therapeutic efficacy. Despite the discovery of several curcumin derivatives with better anticancer activity, new curcumin derivatives must still be synthesised or developed to improve their anticancer activity even more. In addition, a thorough examination of the mode of action of these chemicals is critical. When taken in combination with other innovative anticancer medications, the anticancer activities of curcumin and its derivatives can be improved synergistically. Another useful synthetic strategy is to combine curcumin and its derivatives with other chemotherapeutic medicines such as pullulan and others to create conjugates.

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Reference:

  1. Bridgeman MB, Abazia DT. Medicinal Cannabis: History, Pharmacology, And Implications for the Acute Care Setting. P T. 2017 Mar;42(3):180-188. PMID: 28250701; PMCID: PMC5312634.
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