Curcumin: Preventive and Therapeutic Properties in Laboratory Studies and Clinical Trials

Curcumin is a natural polyphenol used in ancient Asian medicine. Since the first article referring to the use of curcumin to treat human disease was published in The Lancet in 1937, >2,600 research studies using curcumin or turmeric have been published in English language journals. The mechanisms implicated in the inhibition of tumorigenesis by curcumin are diverse and appear to involve a combination of antiinflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, proapoptotic, and antiangiogenic properties via pleiotropic effects on genes and cell-signaling pathways at multiple levels. The potentially adverse sequelae of curcumin's effects on proapoptotic genes, particularly p53, represent a cause for current debate. When…