Anti-inflammatory drugs and uterine cervical cancer cells: Antineoplastic effect of meclofenamic acid

Uterine cervical cancer (UCC) is one of the main causes of cancer-associated mortality in women. Inflammation has been identified as an important component of this neoplasia; in this context, anti-inflammatory drugs represent possible prophylactic and/or therapeutic alternatives that require further investigation. Anti-inflammatory drugs are common and each one may exhibit a different antineoplastic effect. As a result, the present study investigated different anti-inflammatory models of UCC in vitro and in vivo. Celecoxib, sulindac, nimesulide, dexamethasone, meclofenamic acid, flufenamic acid and mefenamic acid were tested in UCC HeLa, VIPA, INBL and SiHa cell lines. The cytotoxicity of the drugs was evaluated in vitro. Celecoxib, sulindac, nimesulide, mefenamic acid and flufenamic acid presented with slight to moderate toxicity (10-40% of cell death corresponding to 100 mu M) in certain cell lines, while meclofenamic acid exhibited significant cytotoxicity in all essayed cell lines (50-90% of cell death corresponding to 100 mu M). The meclofenamic acid was tested in murine models (immunodeficient and immunocompetent) of UCC, which manifested a significant reduction in tumor growth and increased mouse survival. It was demonstrated that of the evaluated anti-inflammatory drugs, meclofenamic acid was the most cytotoxic, with a significant antitumor effect in murine models. Subsequent studies are necessary to evaluate the clinical utility of this drug.