Recent studies have indicated that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drug (
NSAID), particularly
tolfenamic acid, can inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis invarious
cancer cells.
Breast cancer represents one-third of all
cancers diagnosed in women and is the second leading cause of
cancer death in Western European and North American women. In the present study, we investigated the apoptotic effect of
tolfenamic acid in MDA-MB-231
estrogen receptor-negative human
breast carcinoma cells and in a xenograft
tumor model. Treatment of cells with
tolfenamic acid significantly decreased cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner. Notably,
tolfenamic acid increased apoptosis-related
proteins, such as p53 and p21, within 48 h. Furthermore, in vivo experiments showed that
tolfenamic acid treatment resulted in a significant reduction in
tumor volume over 5 weeks. Immunohistochemistry results showed that apoptosis-related
protein induction by
tolfenamic acid was significantly higher in the 50 mg/kg-treated group compared to the control group. Together, these results indicate that
tolfenamic acid induces apoptosis in MDA-MB-231
breast cancer cells and
tumor xenograft model and it may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent against
breast cancer.