Antitumor effects of curcumin, alone or in combination with cisplatin or doxorubicin, on human hepatic cancer cells. Analysis of their possible relationship to changes in NF-kB activation levels and in IAP gene expression

The hepatic cancer HA22T/VGH cell line, which constitutively expresses activated nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kB), was chosen as a model to examine the antitumor activity of curcumin, also in relationship to its possible influences on the activation of the transcription factor and on the expression of the inhibitory of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) and of other NF-kB target genes. Curcumin exerted cell growth inhibitory and apoptotic effects, related, …