Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common gynecological malignancies and a significant cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. Treatment for cervical cancer includes surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Cisplatin is the first-line chemotherapy drug for cervical cancer. Research has shown that about 20% of cervical cancer patients become resistant to chemotherapy, which results in decreased results, tumor recurrence, and poor prognosis. Therefore, researching new drugs, improving the sensitivity of cervical cancer cells to cisplatin, and improving the effectiveness of cervical cancer treatment is the basis of this research. Objective: To investigate the inhibitory effect of curcumin on cisplatin-resistant cervical cancer Hela/DDP and SiHa/DDP cell lines. Methods: The study utilized cisplatin-resistant cervical squamous carcinoma (SiHa/DDP) and adenocarcinoma (Hela/DDP) cell lines. The cells in the experimental group were treated with 8.5 μM of curcumin, while the control group received only the culture medium. A colony formation assay was conducted to assess cell proliferation, with colonies stained using crystal violet; the number of colonies was then counted and compared between the two groups. Results: In the Hela/DDP cell line, the control group formed an average of 507.7 ± 15.70 colonies, whereas the experimental group, treated with curcumin, formed 112.3 ± 16.17 colonies. The difference between the groups was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). In the SiHa/DDP cell line, the control group had an average of 450.3 ± 17.95 colonies, while the experimental group treated with curcumin had 198.3 ± 13.05 colonies. This difference was also statistically significant (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Curcumin significantly reduces the proliferation of cisplatin-resistant cervical cancer cells (Hela/DDP and SiHa/DDP).

Hela/DDP, SiHa/DDP, Drug Resistance, Chemotherapy, Colony Formation Assay