Journal
CANCER BIOLOGY & THERAPY
Volume 8, Issue 3, Pages 268-274Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.4161/cbt.8.3.7443
Keywords
dietary bioactive agents; fenugreek; diosgenin; prostate cancer; breast cancer; pancreatic cancer and phosphorylation
Categories
Funding
- NCI SPORE [P50CA58236]
- Prostate Cancer Foundation
- AEGON International Fellowship in Oncology
- FAMRI
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In recent years, various dietary components that can potentially be used for the prevention and treatment of cancer have been identified. In this study, we demonstrate that extract (FE) from the seeds of the plant Trigonella foenum graecum, commonly called fenugreek, are cytotoxic in vitro to a panel of cancer but not normal cells. Treatment with 10-15 ug/mL of FE for 72 h was growth inhibitory to breast, pancreatic and prostate cancer cell lines (PCa). When tested at higher doses (15-20 ug/mL), FE continued to be growth inhibitory to PCa cell lines but not to either primary prostate or htert-immortalized prostate cells. At least part of the growth inhibition is due to induction of cell death, as seen by incorporation of Ethidium Bromide III into cancer cells exposed to FE. Molecular changes induced in PCa cells are: in DU-145 cells: downregulation of mutant p53, and in PC-3 cells upregulation of p21 and inhibition of TGF beta induced phosphorylation of Akt. The surprising finding of our studies is that death of cancer cells occurs despite growth stimulatory pathways being simultaneously upregulated (phosphorylated) by FE. Thus, these studies add another biologically active agent to our armamentarium of naturally occurring agents with therapeutic potential.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available