Curcumol Induces Apoptosis in SPC-A-1 Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells and Displays Anti-neoplastic Effects in Tumor Bearing Mice

Abstract

Curcumol is a sesquiterpene originally isolated from curcuma rhizomes, a component of herbal remediescommonly used in oriental medicine. Its beneficial pharmacological activities have attract significant interestrecently. In this study, anti-cancer activity of curcumol was examined with both in vitro and in vivo models. It wasfound that curcumol exhibited time- and concentration-dependent anti-proliferative effects in SPC-A-1 humanlung adenocarcinoma cells with cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase while apoptosis-induction was also confirmedwith flow cytometry and morphological analyses. Interestingly, curcumol did not display growth inhibition inMRC-5 human embryonic lung fibroblasts, suggesting the anti-proliferative effects of curcumol were specific tocancer cells. Anti-neoplastic effects of curcumol were also confirmed in tumor bearing mice. Curcumol (60 mg/kg daily) significantly reduced tumor size without causing notable toxicity. In conclusion, curcumol appears afavorable anti-cancer candidate for further development.