Potential application of curcumin and its analogues in the treatment strategy of patients with primary epithelial ovarian cancer.

Recent findings on the molecular basis of ovarian cancer development and progression create new opportunities to develop anticancer medications that would affect specific metabolic pathways and decrease side systemic toxicity of conventional treatment. Among new possibilities for cancer chemoprevention, much attention is paid to curcumin-A broad-spectrum anticancer polyphenolic derivative extracted from the rhizome of Curcuma longa L. According to ClinicalTrials.gov at present there are no running pilot studies, which could assess possible therapeutic benefits from curcumin supplementation to patients with primary epithelial ovarian cancer. Therefore, the goal of this review was to evaluate potential preclinical properties of curcumin and its new analogues on the basis of in vivo and in vitro ovarian cancer studies. Curcumin and its different formulations have been shown to display multifunctional mechanisms of anticancer activity, not only in platinum-resistant primary epithelial ovarian cancer, but also in multidrug resistant cancer cells/xenografts models. Curcumin administered together with platinum-taxane chemotherapeutics have been reported to demonstrate synergistic effects, sensitize resistant cells to drugs, and decrease their biologically effective doses. An accumulating body of evidence suggests that curcumin, due to its long-term safety and an excellent profile of side effects should be considered as a beneficial support in ovarian cancer treatment strategies, especially in patients with platinum-resistant primary epithelial recurrent ovarian cancer or multidrug resistant disease. Although the prospect of curcumin and its formulations as anticancer agents in ovarian cancer treatment strategy appears to be challenging, and at the same time promising, there is a further need to evaluate its effectiveness in clinical studies.

Transvaginal electrical stimulation with surface-EMG biofeedback in managing stress urinary incontinence in women of premenopausal age: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of conservative treatment of urodynamic stress urinary incontinence (SUI) using transvaginal electrical stimulation with surface-electromyography-assisted biofeedback (TVES + sEMG) in women of premenopausal age. METHODS: One hundred and two patients with SUI were divided into two groups: active (n = 68) and placebo (n = 34) TVES + sEMG. The treatment lasted for 8 weeks and consisted of two sessions per day. Women were evaluated before and after the intervention by pad test, voiding diary, urodynamic test, and the Incontinence Quality of Life Questionnaire (I-QOL). RESULTS: Mean urinary leakage on a standard pad test at the end of 8th week was significantly lower in the active than the placebo group (19.5 ± 13.6 vs. 39.8 ± 28.5). Mean urinary leakage on a 24-h pad test was significantly reduced in the active group at the end of 8th and 16th weeks compared with the placebo group (8.2 ± 14.8 vs. 14.6 ± 18.9 and 6.1 ± 11.4 vs. 18.2 ± 20.8, respectively). There was also a significant improvement in muscle strength as measured by the Oxford scale in the active vs the placebo group after 8 and 16 weeks (4.2 vs 2.6 and 4.1 vs 2.7, respectively). No significant difference was found between groups in urodynamic data before and after treatment. At the end of 8th week, the mean I-QOL score in the active vs the placebo group was 78.2 ± 17.9 vs 55.9 ± 14.2, respectively, and at the end of 16th week 80.8 ± 24.1 vs. 50.6 ± 14.9, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that TVES + sEMG is a trustworthy method of treatment in premenopausal women with SUI; however, its reliability needs to be established.