Effects of docetaxel, doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide on human breast cancer cell line MCF-7.

BACKGROUND Cell viability assays are important tools in oncological research. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of docetaxel, doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide on the metabolic activity of MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. MATERIALS AND METHODS Antiproliferative effect of cytostatics on MCF-7 cells was measured using the standard colorimetric test. The MCF-7 cell line was exposed to cytostatics for 24 hours. The metabolic activity was evaluated over the 24 hours. RESULTS According to the statistical analysis, the change in the growth rate was significant (p<0.05) for the 120 nM docetaxel and above the 200 nM doxorubicin treatment in comparison with sensitive MCF-7 cells. When considering drugs in combination (60 nM docetaxel with 200 nM doxorubicin and 60 nM docetaxel with 500 nM doxorubicin) after the addition of 600 nM cyclophosphamide, we found a statistically significant decrease of metabolic activity of the MCF-7 cell line (p<0.05). CONCLUSION Cyclophosphamide at 600 nM seems to enhance the influence of docetaxel when combined with doxorubicin.