Pleiotropic nature of curcumin in targeting multiple apoptoticmediated factors and related strategies to treat gastric cancer: A review.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the major reasons for cancer-associated death and
exhibits the second-highest mortality rate worldwide. Several advanced approaches
have been designed to treat GC; however, these strategies possess many innate complications.
In view of this, the upcoming research relying on natural products could
result in designing potential anticancer agents with fewer side effects. Curcumin, isolated
from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa L. has several medicinal properties like
antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antiapoptotic, antitumor, and antimetastatic. Such
pleiotropic nature of curcumin impedes the invasion and proliferation of GC by
targeting several oncogenic factors like p23, human epidermal factor receptor2
including Helicobacter pylori. The side effect of chemotherapy, that is, chemotherapeutic
resistance and radiotherapy could be reduced combination therapy of curcumin.
Moreover, the photodynamic therapy of curcumin destroys the cancer cells
without affecting normal cells. However, further more potential studies are required
to establish the potent efficacy of curcumin in the treatment of GC. The current
review details the anticancer activities of curcumin and related strategies which could
be employed to treat GC with additional focus on its inhibitory properties against viability,
proliferation, and migration of GC cells through cell cycle arrest and stimulation
by apoptosis-mediated factors.