The therapeutic activity of curcumin through its anti-cancer potential on oral squamous cell carcinoma: A study on Sprague Dawley rat

OBJECTIVES: Being the most common type of oral malignancies, oral squamous cell carcinoma is initiated by epithelial dysplasia, which can be marked by the expression of nuclear factor kappa B and cyclooxygenase 2. Curcumin has been known for its anti-cancer potential. The objective of this study was to evaluate the anti-cancer potential of curcumin on oral squamous cell carcinoma based on the expression of the nuclear factor kappa B and cyclooxygenase 2 during epithelial dysplasia stage. METHODS: This experimental study was performed on 35 Sprague Dawley rats at the Veterinary Medicine Faculty, Bogor Agricultural Institute, Indonesia. At the beginning of the experiments, all rats were induced by 100 µg 0.5% 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene every 2 days for the duration of 28 days. Once epithelial dysplasia stage was reached, all rats were then randomly divided into control group (that did not receive curcumin) or the experimental group (the group that received curcumin for the next 4 weeks). After 4 weeks, the histopathological examination of haematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemistry examination were conducted. Data were gathered and analyzed by using the Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test. RESULTS: The results of the current study revealed that the experimental group showed significantly less nuclear factor kappa B (p < 0.01) and cyclooxygenase 2 (p = 0.03) expressions compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: The results of the study suggested that curcumin was effective in suppressing nuclear factor kappa B and cyclooxygenase 2 expression in experimentally induced oral squamous cell carcinoma. Future studies investigating curcumin anti-cancer potential in a further stage of oral squamous cell carcinoma, as well as the involvement of other components that might improve curcumin anti-cancer potential, are of importance.