Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is a polyphenol derived from the Curcuma longa plant. Curcumin has been used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine, as it is nontoxic and exhibits a variety of therapeutic properties, including antioxidant, analgesic, anti‑inflammatory and antiseptic activities. Recently, certain studies have indicated that curcumin may exert anticancer effects in a variety of biological pathways involved in mutagenesis, apoptosis, tumorigenesis, cell cycle regulation and metastasis. The present study reviewed previous studies in the literature, which support the therapeutic activity of curcumin in cancer. In addition, the present study elucidated a number of the challenges concerning the use of curcumin as an adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent. All the studies reviewed herein suggest that curcumin is able to exert anti‑inflammatory, antiplatelet, antioxidative, hepatoprotective and antitumor activities, particularly against cancers of the liver, skin, pancreas, prostate, ovary, lung and head neck, as well as having a positive effect in the treatment of arthritis.

The WHO has recently provided the most comprehensive global examination of cancer to date, through the publication of the World Cancer Report (WCR). According to IARC-WHO estimates, cancer rates are set to increase at an alarming rate, from 10 million new cases globally in 2000, to 15 million in 2020. However, the report states that we have the opportunity to stem the predicted sharp increase in new cancer cases by taking action now, especially through planning effective cancer control strategies, such as reducing tobacco consumption, suggesting healthy lifestyle and diet, and performing early detection through screening. Although cancer of the oral cavity is largely related to lifestyle and can be easily detected and diagnosed at early stages through a 5& min visual inspection of the oral mucosa, actual figures concerning its prevention and early detection are dismal. Most oral cancers are detected at a late stage, requiring complex, costly and often ineffective therapies. Similarly, current research, educational and financial resources are focused on procedures burdened by high cost, high morbidity and unacceptable high mortality. Here we suggest that it is time to change this common point of view towards this disease and to alter this trend, stressing that there is no other oncologic specialty in which the WCR preventive guidelines could be applied in such an easy and effective manner, as in the field of oral cancer.

The evidence of a connection between the peripheral inflammatory processes and neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system is becoming more apparent. This review of the related literature highlights the most recent clinical, epidemiological, and in vitro studies trying to investigate possible connections between periodontal bacteria and the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. This review was conducted by searching databases such as PubMed and Scopus using keywords or combinations such as Alzheimer’s Disease AND periodontal or dementia AND periodontitis OR periodontal. After eliminating overlaps and screening the articles not related to these issues, we identified 1088 records and proceeded to the selection of articles for an evaluation of the associative assumptions. The hypothesis suggested by the authors and confirmed by the literature is that the bacterial load and the inflammatory process linked to periodontal disease can intensify inflammation at the level of the central nervous system, favoring the occurrence of the disease. The analysis of the literature highlights how periodontal disease can directly contribute to the peripheral inflammatory environment by the introduction of periodontal or indirect pathogenic bacteria and proinflammatory cytokines locally produced at the periodontal level following bacterial colonization of periodontal defects.