Papel terapêutico da curcumina no tratamento do câncer cervical: uma revisão integrativa

Abstract

Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the most common types of cancer among women worldwide and is commonly caused by persistent infection with oncogenic types of Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Currently, standard CC treatment fails to induce therapeutic responses and has high systemic toxicity. Therefore, investing in the development of a safe and effective treatment modality based on natural products proves to be a promising alternative. Curcumin (Cur) is a natural compound endowed with numerous pharmacological effects, including anticancer effects. This can be explained due to its ability to act on different signaling pathways and molecular targets involved in the pathophysiology of cancer. In this sense, the objective of this review was to gather and discuss information obtained through experimental studies that evaluated the use of Cur in the treatment of CC. The review was based on articles published between 2010 and 2022 in the Pubmed and Scopus databases. The initial search resulted in 168 articles, of which 38 were selected. Several studies have demonstrated the potential benefit of treating CC with Cur, either as a monotherapy or in combination with standard chemotherapy, however, there are limitations related to factors, such as pharmacokinetics, which make its clinical application difficult. In this sense, more research is needed to develop formulations that overcome this problem, as well as additional clinical trials are essential to validate its use in clinical practice.