Effects of estradiol and progesterone on the growth of HeLa cervical cancer cells.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this project was to examine the effects of estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) on the proliferation of HeLa cells. E2 promoted and P inhibited the proliferation of HeLa cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS Then, we tested the consequence of combining the different activities of E2 + P. RESULTS We found that P inhibited the proliferative effect of E2 on HeLa cells. Analysis of fotocitometry (FCM) cell cycle and apoptosis rate showed that E2 decreased significantly G0/G1 phase, P and E2 + P significantly increased G0/G, and decreased significantly S phase. P inhibits tumor growth and induces apoptosis mainly by blocking the progression from G1 to S phase. Thus, the E2 + P combination can effectively inhibit the effect of E2 on HeLa cell proliferation. Meanwhile, the E2 + P combination can block the progression from G1 to S phase to induce apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS Overall, these results suggest that the combined application of E2 and P can be a new effective strategy for hormone replacement therapy after treatment of cervical adenocarcinoma.