Curcuminoids as Anticancer Drugs: Pleiotropic Effects, Potential for Metabolic Reprogramming and Prospects for the Future

• Published in: Pharmaceutics Vol. 15; no. 6; p. 1612
• Main Authors: Pouliquen, Daniel L, Trošelj, Koraljka Gall, Anto, Ruby John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 29-05-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Carcinogens; chemosensitization; Clinical trials; Colon; curcumin; curcuminoids; Development and progression; Drug resistance in microorganisms; Life Sciences; Medical research; metabolic reprogramming; Metabolism; Metabolites; Pharmaceutical sciences; Pharmacology; Prostate cancer; Review; Signal transduction; signaling pathways; Tumors; chemosensitization; cancer; curcuminoids; signaling pathways; metabolic reprogramming; curcumin
• ISSN: 1999-4923; 1999-4923
• DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15061612

The number of published studies on curcuminoids in cancer research, including its lead molecule curcumin and synthetic analogs, has been increasing substantially during the past two decades. Insights on the diversity of inhibitory effects they have produced on a multitude of pathways involved in carcinogenesis and tumor progression have been provided. As this wealth of data was obtained in settings of various experimental and clinical data, this review first aimed at presenting a chronology of discoveries and an update on their complex in vivo effects. Secondly, there are many interesting questions linked to their pleiotropic effects. One of them, a growing research topic, relates to their ability to modulate metabolic reprogramming. This review will also cover the use of curcuminoids as chemosensitizing molecules that can be combined with several anticancer drugs to reverse the phenomenon of multidrug resistance. Finally, current investigations in these three complementary research fields raise several important questions that will be put among the prospects for the future research related to the importance of these molecules in cancer research.