癌症构成了重要的全球健康负担，迫使广泛使用化疗和放疗作为传统的一线干预措施。虽然靶向治疗和免疫治疗取得了显著进展，但癌症治疗中的耐药发展和严重副作用挑战依然存在。因此，研究人员积极寻求更有效的替代方案，以改善安全性。近年来，天然多酚类植物激素癸酸，由于其广谱的生物效应，引起了极大关注。本文简要综述了癸酸在癌症治疗中的作用，并重点阐明了其诱导肿瘤细胞程序性死亡和抑制肿瘤细胞转移潜力的分子机制。此外，我们还讨论了与癸酸的临床应用相关的挑战，并探讨了目前旨在克服这些局限性的努力。通过揭示癸酸的有希望潜力，本综述有助于癌症治疗策略的进展。版权© 2023 Elsevier B.V.出版。

Cancer poses a significant global health burden, necessitating the widespread use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy as conventional frontline interventions. Although targeted therapy and immunotherapy have shown remarkable advancements, the challenges of resistance development and severe side effects persist in cancer treatment. Consequently, researchers have actively sought more effective alternatives with improved safety profiles. In recent years, curcumin, a natural polyphenolic phytoalexin, has garnered considerable attention due to its broad spectrum of biological effects. This concise review provides valuable insights into the role of curcumin in cancer therapy, with a focus on elucidating its molecular mechanisms in inducing programmed cell death of tumor cells and suppressing tumor cell metastasis potential. Additionally, we discuss the challenges associated with the clinical application of curcumin and explore current endeavors aimed at overcoming these limitations. By shedding light on the promising potential of curcumin, this review contributes to the advancement of cancer treatment strategies.Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.