Curcumin: A natural therapeutic agent with advanced/ nano-formulation and delivery systems for cancer therapy

Cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases all over the world and chemotherapy is one of the predominant treatment strategies. There are many adverse effects of chemotherapy, thus use of nature’s products that have growth inhibitory and apoptosis induction properties on human cancer cells is the best treatment option. Curcumin, a di-phenolic compound extracted from the rhizome of turmeric (Curcuma longa), is considered as an excellent natural product for cancer therapeutics. Curcumin is most modern approaches for treating cancer due to its no or very less toxic effect, efficacy of targeting tumours and requirement of low dosages. This study summarizes the potential of curcumin, a plant-derived polyphenol, as a naturally occurring xenobiotic that could be useful in cancer therapy. Therefore keeping this in mind the present study aims towards reviewing the role and molecular mechanism of action of curcumin the world for opting alternative treatment option for cancer along with its modern and unique drug delivery system. The article describes many recent findings on curcumin, including its structure, molecular mechanism of anticancer activity at the cellular level, and formulations for efficient delivery to cancer cells . The study also explains how different formulations and curcumin delivery design are effective in improving absorption and bioavailability through common routes of administration, and its safety when absorption is increased. Here, we state the recent findings and effective roles/functions of different nano formulation for curcumin delivery and its co-deliver with other drugs. This review summarizes the pharmacological activities of curcumin, its nano-formulation and newly developed delivery agents for innovative cancer therapeutic approaches.