Therapeutic applications of curcumin for patients with pancreatic cancer

作     者：Masashi Kanai 

作者机构：Department of Clinical Oncology and PharmacogenomicsGraduate School of MedicineKyoto University KyotoJapan Kyoto University Hospital 

出 版 物：《World Journal of Gastroenterology》 (世界胃肠病学杂志（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2014年第20卷第28期

页      面：9384-9391页

核心收录：

学科分类：1002[医学-临床医学] 100214[医学-肿瘤学] 10[医学] 

基　　金：Japan Society for the Promotion of Science  JSPS  (24590655) 

主　　题：Curcumin Pancreatic cancer Nuclear factor-kappa B Bioavailability THERACURMIN 

摘      要：A number of preclinical studies have demonstrated anticancer effects for curcumin in various types of tumors, including pancreatic cancer. Curcumin has anticancer effects both alone and in combination with other anticancer drugs (e.g., gemcitabine, 5-fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin), and it has been shown to modulate a variety of molecular targets in preclinical models, with more than 30 molecular targets identified to date. Of these various molecules, NF-κB is thought to be one of the primary targets of curcumin activity. Based on these promising preclinical results, several research groups, including our own, have progressed to testing the anticancer effects of curcumin in clinical trials; however, the poor bioavailability of this agent has been the major challenge for its clinical application. Despite the ingestion of gram-level doses of curcumin, plasma curcumin levels remain at low (ng/mL) levels in patients, which is insufficient to yield the anticancer benefits of curcumin. This problem has been solved by the development of highly bioavailable forms of curcumin (THERACURMIN®), and higher plasma curcumin levels can now be achieved without increased toxicity in patients with pancreatic cancer. In this article, we review possible therapeutic applications of curcumin in patients with pancreatic cancer.