Earlier study observed that curcumin (2.5, 5, 10, 20, 50 μM for 12, 24, 48 h) could time- and concentration-dependently promote the expression of GRP78, Caspase-12, and CHOP, inhibit the proliferation of HCC cells SMMC-7721 and induce apoptosis (Xu XM et al., 2018). This evidence concerns the gene DDIT3 and hepatocellular carcinoma.