Development of the treatment for the uterine leiomyosarcoma using curcumin

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25861459
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Obstetrics and gynecology
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Tsuiji Kenji 東北大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (40528155)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 子宮平滑筋肉腫 / クルクミン / モデルマウス / mTOR

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Uterine leiomyosarcoma generally has an unfavorable response to standard chemotherapy. The active ingredient derived from the herb Curcuma longa, curcumin, shows antitumor properties in a variety of cancer cell lines by altering a number of oncogenetic pathways. To explore the possibility of curcumin as an alternative chemotherapy, we investigated curcumin’s antitumor effect on uterine leiomyosarcoma.
Human leiomyosarcoma cell lines, SKN and SK-UT-1, were cultured for in vitro and in vivo experiments. In vitro study, curcumin significantly reduced SKN and SK-UT-1 cell proliferation. In vivo study, curcumin reduced the volume and mass of uterine leiomyosarcoma significantly with a concordant decrease in mTOR pathway. Cleaved PARP and TUNEL staining increased significantly with curcumin administration, indicating the induction of apoptosis.
In a summary, curcumin inhibited uterine leiomyosarcoma in vitro and in vivo by targeting mTOR pathway and inducing apoptosis.

Free Research Field

産婦人科