Breast cancer is a complex disease caused by irregular cell growth and proliferation. Women are more likely to suffer from it than men. Even with advances in technology and treatment strategies, therapeutic intervention is still warranted. Curcumin is an active bio-available compound found in turmeric, shows some anticancer properties. Cancer cell lines treated with curcumin showed increased levels of Bax, an apoptosis activator, and p53 DNA-binding activity. As apoptotic genes are expressed, TRAP3 and MCL-1 are upregulated, whereas TRAIL, AP13 are downregulated by breast cancer. miR-19a, miR-19b proteins are upregulated, and miR-19 is regulated by downstream expression. Curcumin exhibited its effect through different signaling pathways like nuclear factor kappa B(NF-kB) pathway, 3(STAT3) pathway, Mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, Wnt (Wingless-Int)/β-catenin signaling pathway etc. In this review, the role of curcumin as an antidote against breast cancer is explored with a focus on some specific genes and pathways involved in the progression of breast cancer.
