Mitomycin C and Etoposide in Advanced Colorectal Carcinoma

Ruthenium Complexes: An Alternative to Platinum Drugs in Colorectal Cancer Treatment

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the intimidating causes of death around the world. CRC originated from mutations of tumor suppressor genes, proto-oncogenes and DNA repair genes. Though platinum (Pt)-based anticancer drugs have been widely used in the treatment of cancer, their toxicity and CRC cells' resistance to Pt drugs has piqued interest in the search for alternative metal-based drugs. Ruthenium (Ru)-based compounds displayed promising anticancer activity due to their unique chemical properties. Ru-complexes are reported to exert their anticancer activities in CRC cells by regulating different cell signaling pathways that are either directly or indirectly associated with cell growth, division, proliferation, and migration. Additionally, some Ru-based drug candidates showed higher potency compared to commercially available Pt-based anticancer drugs in CRC cell line models. Meanwhile Ru nanoparticles coupled with photosensitizers or anticancer agents have also shown theranostic potential towards CRC. Ru-nanoformulations improve drug efficacy, targeted drug delivery, immune activation, and biocompatibility, and therefore may be capable of overcoming some of the existing chemotherapeutic limitations. Among the potential Ru-based compounds, only Ru (III)-based drug NKP-1339 has undergone phase-Ib clinical trials in CRC treatment.

Synergistic enhancement of cancer therapy using a combination of carbon nanotubes and anti-tumor drug

Aim: In previous pharmacological applications, single-wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have primarily been explored as potential drug carriers and delivery vehicles. Here, we investigate and demonstrate for the first time, that CNTs can be considered as anti-tumor agents and, when in combination with conventional drugs, can significantly enhance their chemotherapeutic effects. Method & materials: HeLa and human Panc1 cancer cells were treated with CNTs (24 h, 10 and 20 µg/ml), etoposide (6 h, 75 × 10-6 M) and their combination. The cell viability was controlled by flow cytometry, caspase-3 assay and trypan blue dye. Results: A highly increased anti-tumor activity of the combination of etoposide and CNTs against cancer cells, compared with the administration of etoposide and CNTs alone, is reported. Data provided by viability assays suggest a strong interaction between CNTs and the cellular structures, thereby improving the effectiveness of conventional chemotherapeutic agents. Conclusion: We believe this finding could lead to the development of new cancer therapies by carefully selecting the cytostatic drugs and nanostructural materials that, in combination, may provide synergistic curative rates.

Sulfinosine enhances doxorubicin efficacy through synergism and by reversing multidrug resistance in the human non-small cell lung carcinoma cell line (NCI-H460/R)

A resistant non-small cell lung carcinoma cell line-NSCLC (NCI-H460/R) was established in order to investigate the potential of sulfinosine (SF) to overcome multidrug resistance (MDR). The cytotoxicity of doxorubicin (DOX) in NCI-H460/R cells was enhanced by interaction with SF. SF improved the sensitivity of resistant cells to DOX when NCI-H460/R cells were pretreated with SF. Synergism was accompanied by the accumulation of cells in S and G(2)/M phases. Pretreatment with SF was more potent in improving the sensitivity to DOX than verapamil (VER). The decrease of mdr1 and topo II alpha expression (assessed by RT-PCR), was consistent with the DOX accumulation assay and cell cycle analysis. Also, SF significantly decreased intracellular glutathione (GSH) concentration. These results point to SF as a potential agent of MDR reversal and a valuable drug for improving chemotherapy of NSCLC.