Hörmann, Vanessa P.

Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death in men aged 40-55. Genistein isoflavone (4', 5', 7-trihydroxyisoflavone) is a dietary phytochemical with demonstrated anti-tumor activities in a variety of cancers. Topotecan Hydrochloride (Hycamtin) is an FDA-approved chemotherapy drug, primarily used for secondary treatment of ovarian,cervical and small cell lung cancers. This study was to demonstrate the potential anticancer activities and synergy of topotecan-genistein combination in LNCaP prostate cancer cells. The potential efficacy and mechanism of topotecan/genistein-induced cell death was investigated... Results: The overall data indicated that i) both genistein and topotecan induce cellular death in LNCaP cells, ii) topotecan-genistein combination was significantly more efficacious in reducing LNCaP cell viabiligy compared to either genistein or topotecan alone, iii) in all cases, cell death was primarily through apoptosis, via the activation of the intrinsic pathway, iv) ROS levels were increased and VEGF expression was diminished significantly with the topotecan-genistein combination treatment, v) genetic analysis of topotecan-genistein treatment groups showed changes in genetic expression levels in pathway specific apoptotic genes.... Conclusion: Treatments involving topotecan-genistein combination may prove to be an attractive alternative phytotherapy of adjuvant therapy for prostate cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common malignant cancer and leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55. Among dietary phytochemicals with demonstrated anti-tumor activities are genistein (4', 5', 7-trihydroxyisoflavone) and pomegranate (punica granatum). The present study was to demonstrate the potential anticancer activities of genistein and pomegranate and the mechanism of action in human breast cancer cells. Study design. MCF-7 cells were grown in RPMI medium and then seeded in 48-well MTP, and cultured at 37C, 5% CO2 for 36hr to achieve 80-90% confluence. The cells were then exposed to varying concentrations of genistein and pomegranate for 24 and 48hr. The treated cells were tested for (i) post-treatment sensitivity using MTT and Trypan Blue exclusion assay, and (ii) treatment-induced apoptosis using Rh123, Acridine Orange-Ethidium Bromide nuclear stains and Caspase binding assay. Results. Data indicated that both compounds effectively killed cancer cells mostly via apoptosis induction.