Cellular Aspects of Anti-Mucin Therapies in Human Prostate Cancer Cell Lines

Claire Mok

Abstract

An estimated 15% of all prostate cancer diagnoses are high risk, involving tumours that will advance locally or metastasise metastatica. Prognosis is poor for such patients due to the lack of methods to stratify risk, invariable treatment resistance, and a lack of treatment options and adjuvant therapies. Mucins have emerged as a promising candidate for targeted therapy- aberrant expressions of MUC 1 and MUC 4 contribute to tumorigenesis and metastasis in prostate cancers via multiple mechanisms. Emerging evidence has identified bromelain with N-acetylcysteine as a potential mucolytic and cytotoxic drug in breast, ovarian and gastrointestinal cancers. 

This original paper aims to investigate the effect of bromelain as a single agent and used in combination with NAC on three human prostate cancer cell lines in vitro. Results demonstrate that bromelain alone inhibits cell growth and proliferation in PC-3, DU-145 and LNCAP prostate cell lines in vitro. The addition of NAC with bromelain produced a synergistic or additive cytotoxic effect. The same results were repeatable with addition of the cytotoxic agents doxorubicin, docetaxel and gemcitabine. This capability supports the use of this combination formulation and is a promising start to development of novel locoregional treatment of prostate cancers.