The chemopreventive and clinically used agent curcumin sensitizes HPV (-) but not HPV (+) HNSCC to ionizing radiation, in vitro and in a mouse orthotopic model.

ABSTRACT: Radiation therapy (RT) plays a critical role in the local-regional control of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, the efficacy of RT in treating HNSCC is limited by severe normal tissue toxicity, predominantly mucositis. One pharmacological approach for increasing the clinical response to RT is the use of radiation response modifiers that preferentially sensitize tumor cells. Previously we demonstrated that curcumin, a natural plant polyphenol, increased the radiation sensitivity of HNSCC cells and that the observed sensitization was dependent on curcumin-mediated inhibition of thioredoxin reductase 1 (TxnRd1) a key cytosolic regulator of redox-dependent signaling. Here, we examined curcumin-induced radiation sensitization in HNSCC cell lines with differing HPV status a

SUBMITTER: Tuttle S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4727515 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature