TY - JOUR AB - Morbidity and mortality owing to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common primary liver cancer, has increased in recent years. Curcumin is a polyphenol compound that has been demonstrated to exert effective antiangiogenic, anti‑inflammatory, antioxidant, and antitumor effects. However, its clinical effects in HCC remain elusive. The main aim of the present study was to determine the antiangiogenic effects of curcumin in HCC. H22HCC cells were treated with different concentrations of curcumin in vitro. In addition, a mouse xenograft model was used and analyzed for expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein and proteins of the phosphoinositide 3‑kinase (PI3K)/AKT serine/threonine kinase 1 (AKT) signaling pathway. Curcumin treatment inhibited H22 cell proliferation and promoted H22 cell apoptosis in a dose‑dependent manner in vitro. In addition, curcumin treatment inhibited tumor growth in vivo at the concentrations of 50 and 100 mg/kg. Furthermore, curcumin treatment significantly decreased VEGF expression and PI3K/AKT signaling. The present findings demonstrated that curcumin inhibited HCC proliferation in vitro and in vivo by reducing VEGF expression. AD - Department of General Surgery, Xiamen Haicang Hospital, Xiamen, Fujian 361026, P.R. China Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361003, P.R. China AU - Pan,Zirong AU - Zhuang,Jianmin AU - Ji,Chenghong AU - Cai,Zhezhen AU - Liao,Weijia AU - Huang,Zhengjie DA - 2018/04/01 DO - 10.3892/ol.2018.7988 EP - 4826 IS - 4 JO - Oncol Lett KW - curcumin hepatocellular carcinoma vascular endothelial growth factor anti‑angiogenic chemotherapy polyphenol compound PY - 2018 SN - 1792-1074 1792-1082 SP - 4821 ST - Curcumin inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma growth by targeting VEGF expression T2 - Oncology Letters TI - Curcumin inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma growth by targeting VEGF expression UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2018.7988 VL - 15 ER -