Synergistic effects of the combination of 5-Aza‑CdR and suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid on the anticancer property of pancreatic cancer.

Despite increasing advances in the diagnosis and treatment for pancreatic cancer, the mortality rate remains high world-wide. There is an urgent need for new therapies to improve survival and quality of life for pancreatic cancer patient. Epigenetic therapeutic agents such as 5-Aza‑CdR and suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) have shown therapeutic effects for human cancers. We evaluated the efficacy of 5-Aza‑CdR or SAHA and their combination as potential therapies for pancreatic cancer in vitro. Treatment with 5-Aza‑CdR or SAHA inhibited pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, migration and induced cell arrest. However, 5-Aza‑CdR alone can not induce cell apoptosis. Combination of the two agents enhanced the proliferation and migration inhibition, and induced more cells to G2 arrest and increased the cell apoptosis proportion. Furthermore, combination treatment with SAHA and 5-Aza‑CdR significantly increased expression of TP53 and P16. The possible mechanism might be that the two agents inhibited the PI3K/AKT/PTEN signaling pathway. In conclusion, these data demonstrate a potential role for epigenetic modifier drugs for the management of pancreatic cancer.

Citation

Ting Han, Meng Zhuo, Hai Hu, Feng Jiao, Li-Wei Wang. Synergistic effects of the combination of 5-Aza‑CdR and suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid on the anticancer property of pancreatic cancer. Oncology reports. 2018 Jan;39(1):264-270

PMID: 29115632

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