Growth-inhibitory effects of vitamin D analogues and retinoids on human pancreatic cancer cells

Published on Tuesday, 03 October 2017

Abstract

Retinoids and vitamin D are important factors that regulate cellular growth and differentiation.

An additive growth-inhibitory effect of retinoids and vitamin D analogues has been demonstrated for human myeloma, leukaemic and breast cancer cells.

We set out to study the effects of the vitamin D analogue EB1089 and the retinoids all-trans- and 9-cis-retinoic acid on the human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell lines Capan 1 and Capan 2 and the undifferentiated pancreatic carcinoma cell line Hs766T.

The cell lines investigated expressed vitamin D receptor, retinoic acid receptor (RAR)-alpha and gamma as determined by polymerase chain reaction after reverse transcription. RAR-beta was expressed only in Hs766T cells.

Addition of all-trans-retinoic acid increased the amount of RAR-alpha mRNA in the three cell lines and induced RAR-beta mRNA in Capan 1 and Capan 2 cells.

All-trans-retinoic acid at a concentration of 10 nM inhibited the growth of Capan 1 and Capan 2 cells by 40% relative to controls.

9-cis-Retinoic acid was less effective. Neither all-trans-retinoic acid nor 9-cis-retinoic acid affected the growth of Hs766T cells. EB1089, if added alone to the cells, did not significantly inhibit growth.

However, the combination of 1 nM EB1089 with 10 nM all-trans-retinoic acid exerted a growth-inhibitory effect of 90% in Capan 1 cells and of 70% in Capan 2 cells.

Our data suggest that vitamin D analogues together with retinoids inhibit the growth of human pancreatic cancer cells.

However, in vivo studies are necessary to examine the potential use of retinoids and vitamin D analogues on pancreatic cancer.

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About this publication.

- Solution of retinoids in vitamin E in the Di Bella Method biological multitherapy;

- Vitamin D (analogues and/or derivatives) and cancer;

- Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: clinical records on 17 patients treated with Di Bella's Method;

- The Di Bella Method Increases by the 30% the survival rate for Pancreas tumors and for this reason should be proposed as first line therapy for this type of cancer;

- Congenital fibrosarcoma in complete remission with Somatostatin, Retinoids, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Melatonin, Calcium, Chondroitin sulfate associated with low doses of Cyclophosphamide in a 14-year Follow Up;

- The Di Bella Method (DBM) in the treatment of prostate cancer: a preliminary retrospective study of 16 patients and a review of the literature;

- Cyclophosphamide plus Somatostatin, Bromocriptin, Retinoids, Melatonin and ACTH in the Treatment of Low-grade Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas at Advanced Stage: Results of a Phase II Trial;

- Relapse of High-Grade Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma After Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation: A Case Successfully Treated With Cyclophosphamide Plus Somatostatin, Bromocriptine, Melatonin, Retinoids, and ACTH;