Curcumin based nanomedicines as efficient nanoplatform for treatment of cancer: New developments in reversing cancer drug resistance, rapid internalization, and improved anticancer efficacy

Publication date: Available online 1 August 2018Source: Trends in Food Science & TechnologyAuthor(s): Shahzeb Khan, Muhammad Imran, Tariq Tahir Butt, Syed Wadood Ali Shah, Muhammad Sohail, Arif Malik, Srijit Das, Hnin Ei Thu, Aishah Adam, Zahid HussainAbstractBackgroundCancer is a group of diseases involving an abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled fashion and in some cases metastasize to the surrounding tissues (malignancy). Resistance to chemotherapy is typically intrinsic (heterogeneity); however, acquired resistance has also become prevelant due to multiple factors including expression of energy-dependent transporters causing expulsion of internalized drug contents extracellular, insensitivity of tumor cells to drug-induced apoptosis, and induction of drug-detoxifying mechanisms. Curcumin (CUR) has gained widespread recognition due to remarkable anticancer, anti-mutagenic, and anti-metastasizing potentials via downregulation of proliferation of cancer cells and induction of apoptosis. Nevertheless, pharmaceutical significance and therapeutic feasibility of CUR is restricted due to intrinsic physicochemical characteristics including poor aqueous solubility, inadequate biological stability, low bioavailability, and short half-life.Scope and approachOwing to these pharmaceutical limitations of CUR, nanodelivery systems have attained remarkable fascination in the recent years. Therefore, this review was aimed to overview and critically ponders ...
Source: Trends in Food Science and Technology - Category: Food Science Source Type: research