Fig. 1

Curcumin targets the classical hallmarks of cancer: curcumin has been shown to target all the classical hallmarks of cancer. It reduces proliferative signals by interfering with pathways like NFκB, PI3K, MAPK etc. It also restores the levels of growth suppressors like TP53 and retinoblastoma protein (RB). Curcumin increases pro-apoptotic proteins like BAX, BIM, PUMA while decreasing anti-apoptotic proteins like BCL-2, BCL-XL, thus promoting apoptosis of cancer cells. Curcumin reduces angiogenesis by decreasing VEGF and angiopoetin and interfering with VEGFR signaling. Curcumin also restricts replicative immortality by reducing activity of human telomerase (hTERT). Finally curcumin reduces metastasis by targeting a host of invasion and cell adhesion related molecules like MMP, CXCR4, SLUG, SNAIL etc.