ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the possible mechanism of curcumin in inducing the apoptosis of breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Curcumin of different concentrations at 0, 10 25, 50, 100, 150, 200 micromol x L(-1) were used to intervene breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 for 24 hours. MTT was used to observe its effect on the proliferation of breast cancer cells. The flow cytometry was used to detect its effect on the cell apoptosis. The real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot was used to assess the expression levels of GRP78 and CHOP in breast cancer cells.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Curcumin could inhibit the proliferative ability of breast cancer cells by inducing them in a concentration-dependent manner. Curcumin could significantly increase the expression levels of GRP78 and CHOP in breast cancer cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Curcumin could induce the apoptosis of breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 by activating endoplasmic reticulum stress.</p>
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Apoptosis , Breast Neoplasms , Drug Therapy , Genetics , Metabolism , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Proliferation , Curcumin , Pharmacology , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Pharmacology , Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress , Heat-Shock Proteins , Genetics , Metabolism , Transcription Factor CHOP , Genetics , MetabolismABSTRACT
In order to explore the possibility of Xihuangwan (XHW)'s application in assistant therapy in patients with breast cancer, short- and long-term clinical efficacy were assessed in this study. Eighty and four patients with advanced breast cancer were selected in this study. They were divided into control group and treatment group randomly and evenly. All patients received surgical treatment followed by chemotherapy regimen composed of PTX + EPI + CTX (TEC regimen). Treatment group received additional assistant treatment of XHW. Short-term clinical efficacy was assessed by KPS, lesion stabilizing rate and side effects in 3-month follow-up study. Long-term clinical efficacy was assessed by overall survival (OS) and free-progression survival (FPS). KPS increased significantly after treatment in all patients (P < 0.05), more significantly in treatment group than in control group after treatment (P < 0.05); lesion stabilizing rate in treatment group increased significantly in treatment group than in control group (92.86% vs. 85.71%, P < 0.05); there was no significant difference between control group and treatment group in occurrence of side effects. Compared with control group, OS and FPS increased significantly in treatment group. Data in this study showed that XHW was suitable in treatment of advanced breast cancer due to its satisfactory short-term and long-term therapeutic effects.