Curcumin and cancer; are long non-coding RNAs missing link?

Despite significant signs of progress in cancer treatment over the past decade, either cancer prevalence or mortality continuously grow worldwide. Current anti-cancer agents show insignificant effectiveness, followed by serious side effects. It is important to find new, highly efficient pharmacological agents to increase cancer patients' clinical outcomes. Curcumin, a polyphenolic compound, has gained growing attention because of its anti-cancer properties. Curcumin can hinder the development, migration, and metastasis of cancer cells. The anti-cancer effects of curcumin are principally attributed to the regulation of several cellular signaling pathways, including MAPK/PI3K/Akt, Wnt/β-catenin, JAK/STAT, and NF-ĸB signaling pathways. Furthermore, curcumin can affect the expression and function of tumor-suppressive and oncogenic long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). In this study, we briefly reviewed the modulatory effect of curcumin on dysregulated tumor-supportive and tumor-suppressive lncRNAs in several cancers. It is hoped that a better understanding of curcumin's anti-cancer properties would pave the way for the development of a therapeutic approach in cancer.