MAKING CANCER MORTAL: INVESTIGATING CURCUMIN’S EFFECTS ON CANCER

Abstract

Curcumin, a polyphenol derived from Curcuma longa, or turmeric, with various medically useful properties as anti-inflammation or anti-oxidation, can be predicted to induce the death of cancer cells through its additional anti-carcinogenic properties. Yet, unlike other cancer treatments today, it should leave healthy, normal cells unharmed since it is used commonly as an everyday cooking spice. Both literature reviews and research conducted within this study indicate that curcumin is capable of implementing its anti-carcinogenic properties along many different biological pathways such as cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, metastasis, and so on without damaging healthy cells. Furthermore, by inhibiting a transcription factor known as NF- κB, curcumin not only induces apoptosis in cancer cells but also prevents the further growth and propagation of cancer cells. In this in vitro study, the effects that curcumin has upon cancer cells are observed and studied in order to explain how curcumin enhances necrosis in cancer cells and to show that curcumin is indeed an inhibitor of cancer cells and their growth.