Preliminary Assessment of the Combination Studies of Artesunate with Paclitaxel on Human Prostate Cancer Cell Proliferation

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most common malignant cancer and the second leading cause of cancer‐related deaths in men. Approximately 18.9 out of 100,000 men per year die of prostate cancer. Common treatments such as androgen deprivation therapy (ADT,) surgical castration, and radiation therapy are used to counter PC; however, a proportion of patients relapse within a median of 2‐3 years with castration‐resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). In this study, combined effect of artesunate (ART) with paclitaxel (PTX) on human prostate cancer cell lines – LnCaP (androgen‐ dependent) and PC‐3 (androgen‐independent) were examined. In vitro anti‐proliferative (MTT) assay was used to assess the cytotoxic effects of ART, PTX, and in combination ratios 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1 on LnCaP and PC‐3 after 72‐ hour exposure. The IC50 values of 25.1 μM and 3.98 μM for ART and PXT on PC‐3 while the IC50 values of 2.13 μM and 0.05 μM on LnCaP were observed respectively. The average IC50 values when ART was combines with PXT were 0.499 μM and 0.084 μM on PC‐3 and LnCaP respectively. Overall, this study demonstrates that combining ART with PTX at different combination ratios has more effect on LnCaP than PC‐3 ‐ low IC50. In conclusion, combining ART with PTX displayed cytotoxicity regardless of the type of prostate cancer cell line. This may offer a promising new therapeutic option for the treatment of metastatic hormone‐refractory prostate cancer, aid in reducing cytotoxicity exerted by PTX alone and low prostate cancer mortality rate in men.