Curcumin enhances the synergistic potential of paclitaxel, reduces cancer cell viability, tumour volume and drug resistance in different cancers: systematic review and meta-analysis

To treat diseases such as cancer, conventional Paclitaxel (PTX)-based treatment regimens are becoming less effective due to the development of resistance. In this respect, the phytomolecule curcumin, which has ethnopharmacological significance in traditional South Asian remedies such as Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine, was investigated as a promising chemosensitising and synergistic partner of Paclitaxel.

This study evaluated the combined effect of Paclitaxel and curcumin compared with Paclitaxel therapy alone in both in vitro and in vivo settings.

An extensive PubMed search was performed in which 169 articles were screened and reviewed to identify 30 studies that reported the effect of Paclitaxel and curcumin in vitro, in vivo or both. The combined odds ratio (OR) was calculated at a 95% confidence interval (CI) to determine the effect of the combined treatment.

The meta-analysis indicated that Paclitaxel and curcumin combination therapy was associated with a significant decrease in cell viability (OR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.27-0.51; p < 0.01) and tumour volume (OR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.15-0.71; p = 0.01). In addition, the effect of this combination on drug-resistant cell lines showed a significant decrease in the odds of cell viability (OR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.35-0.57; p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION: Overall, the current meta-analysis has shown that the combination of Paclitaxel and curcumin effectively inhibits cancer cell viability, reduces tumour volume and decreases the growth of drug-resistant cancer cells.