Effects of Epothilone A in Combination with Metformin and Sitagliptin in HepG2 Cells

Studies indicate that diabetics are more likely to develop cancer, especially of the pancreas or colon, or hepatocellular carcinoma. Tumor genesis is promoted by high insulin and glucose levels pancreas, in T2DM (Saito et al., 2013; Zheng et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2015). Metformin, a commonly used drug for T2DM, reduces the incidence of various types of neoplasm. However, much less is known about the influence of the novel antidiabetic drug sitagliptin (SITA) on cancer occurrence, as well as its interaction with anticancer therapy. Additionally, the mechanisms of the possible interaction between antidiabetic drugs and anticancer agents have yet to be precisely determined. The aim of the present paper is to determine the influence of metformin (MET) and SITA on the killing of liver cancer cells mediated by epothilone A (EpoA), a microtubule inhibitor agent.