Mitoxantrone as a prospective photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy of breast cancer

Photodynamic therapy has the potential to become an effective alternate to surgery for the treatment of cancer. In recent years, there has been a focus on identifying more effective and less toxic photosentisizers for use in photodynamic therapy. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of mitoxantrone, a chemotherapeutic agent, as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy in the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line. Cytotoxicity was evaluated for different concentrations of mitoxantrone, and photosensitivity was assessed using a non-coherent light source. The percentage of the cell survival after 24 h was investigated using the MTT assay. Overall, the results showed that mitoxantrone is a remarkably efficient photosensitizer that could mediate MCF-7 cell death at a low concentration (5 mu M) with modest exposure to light. It is surprising to find that a chemotherapeutic agent can be an effective photosensitizer for PDT in vitro. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.