Combination Effect of Tamoxifen and Ascorbic Acid Treatment on Breast Cancer Cells (MCF-7) and Cervical Cancer Cells (HeLa)

Abstract

Breast cancer and cervical cancer are among the leading causes of death among women in the world. The development of drug resistance in both cancer cells, has reduced the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer treatment. The current study was aimed to evaluate cell viability of human breast cancer cells, MCF-7 and cervical cancer cells, HeLa upon combination treatment of ascorbic acid and tamoxifen. The cell viability was performed using MTT assay incubated for 72 hours in humidified CO₂ incubator. The concentration of tamoxifen and ascorbic acid that reduced 50% of cells population (IC₅₀) was determined from dose response curve. IC₅₀ concentration was used to determine cell viability in treated cells. CompuSyn software was used to evaluate the combination effects towards both cells upon treatment and results were calculated as combination index (CI). Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 24. Statistical analysis was performed using independent t-test. The IC₅₀ value of tamoxifen and ascorbic acid on MCF-7 cells were 14.53 µg/ml and 15.8 µg/ml respectively whereas the IC₅₀ value of tamoxifen and ascorbic acid on HeLa cells were 11.09 µg/ml and 202.3 µg/ml respectively. Combination of tamoxifen and ascorbic acid exerted greater growth reduction in both cells compared to tamoxifen alone. The results indicated ascorbic acid synergizes the cytotoxic effect of tamoxifen at lower concentrations towards MCF-7 cells with the CI less than 1. However, the combination of tamoxifen and ascorbic acid exerted antagonistic effect in HeLa cells when CI were more than 1.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/JSKM-2021-1902-12