Antiangiogenic effects of a novel synthetic curcumin analogue in pancreatic cancer.

Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) and NF-κB play essential roles in cancer cell growth and metastasis by promoting angiogenesis. Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) serves as a regulator of HIF-1α and NF-κB protein. We hypothesized that curcumin and its analogues EF31 and UBS109 would disrupt angiogenesis in pancreatic cancer (PC) through modulation of HIF-1α and NF-κB.