REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacology of Anti-Cancer Drugs
This article is part of the Research TopicNanomedicine and Phytotherapy in Cancer: A New Era of Alternative TherapeuticsView all 3 articles
Curcumin: Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Advanced Drug Delivery Systems, and Its Epigenetic Role in Combating Cancer
Provisionally accepted
Shukur Wasman Smail1,2
Peter Bergsten3Kalthum Othman Taha1Raya Kh. Yashooa4
Dawan J. Hawezy5Muhamed Aydin Abbas2
Mudhir Sabir Shekha3*- 1Salahaddin University, Erbil, Iraq
- 2Cihan University Erbil, Erbil, Iraq
- 3Uppsala Universitet, Uppsala, Sweden
- 4University of Al-Hamdaniya, Al-Hamdaniya, Iraq
- 5Koya University, Koysinjaq, Iraq
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Curcumin, the principal bioactive compound of Curcuma longa (turmeric), has received extensive scientific attention for its remarkable pharmacological and epigenetic activities, particularly in cancer prevention and therapy. This review provides a comprehensive overview of curcumin's biochemical, pharmacological, and molecular actions. Curcumin exerts potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects by modulating multiple signaling pathways, including NF-κB, PI3K/Akt, and Wnt/β-catenin. Despite its broad therapeutic potential, curcumin's clinical application is limited by poor solubility, rapid metabolism, and low systemic bioavailability. To address these challenges, advanced nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems such as nanoparticles, liposomes, micelles, and polymeric carriers have been developed to enhance its solubility, stability, and targeted bioavailability. Importantly, curcumin demonstrates a multifaceted epigenetic influence that encompasses the inhibition of DNA methyltransferases leading to DNA demethylation and reactivation of silenced tumor-suppressor genes, modulation of histone acetylation and methylation balance to restore normal chromatin accessibility, regulation of non-coding RNAs such as microRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs that control gene expression, and alteration of RNA methylation (m⁶A modification) through modulation of METTL3, FTO, and YTHDF proteins, which influence mRNA stability and translation efficiency. Collectively, these molecular and epigenetic effects reinforce curcumin's potential as a promising multi-target agent for cancer prevention and therapy. Further pharmacogenomic and clinical studies are essential to standardize curcumin formulations and translate these preclinical findings into effective therapeutic applications.
Keywords: Curcumin, Epigenetic regulation, RNA methylation, DNA Methylation, histone modification, non-coding RNA, Drug Delivery Systems, cancer therapy
Received: 29 Aug 2025; Accepted: 30 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Smail, Bergsten, Taha, Yashooa, Hawezy, Abbas and Shekha. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mudhir Sabir Shekha, mudhir.shekha@mcb.uu.se
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