Efficacy of Combining 3-Bromopyruvate with Fenofibrate in Killing the Human Breast Cancer Cell Line MCF-7

The goal of our research was to find a cancer treatment that was both effective and cancer specific, sparing immune and normal tissues. We evaluated the efficacy of a combinatorial treatment using the glycolytic inhibitor 3-bromopyruvate and the fatty acid metabolism inhibitor fenofibrate in cancer, immune and normal tissue cells lines. Treatment of the human breast cancer MCF-7 with 3-bromopyruvate and fenofibrate resulted in increased cell death and decreased colony formation. In the immune cells known as peripheral blood mononuclear cells our combinatorial treatment displayed less toxicity than the traditional chemotherapy doxorubicin. Our combinatorial treatment displayed greater toxicity than doxorubicin towards an established breast cell line MCF- 10A, described in the literature as representing normal breast cells. We have shown for the first time a synergistic relationship between 3-bromopyruvate and fenofibrate.