Background: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death among females in the world. To date, chemotherapy has been the most frequently used treatment for breast cancer and other cancers. However, some natural products have been used, as alternative treatments for cancers including breast cancer, due to their wide range of biological activities and low toxicity in animal models.
Objectives: The present study examined the anti-proliferative activity of curcumin and its effect(s) on the apoptosis of breast cancer cells.
Materials and methods: This study was performed by an in vitro assay and the anticancer effects of curcumin were determined by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide). We used quantitative real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for detection of Mcl-1 gene expression in treated groups and then compared them to control samples.
Results: In the treatment group, there were higher levels of cell death changes than the control group. The results also showed that the Mcl-1 gene expression declined in the tested group as compared to the control group.
Conclusions: Our present findings indicated that curcumin significantly inhibited the growth of human breast cancer cell MCF-7 by inducing apoptosis in a dose- and time- dependent manner, accompanied by a decrease in MCF-7 cell viability. Furthermore, our results showed that quantitative real-time PCR could be used as a direct method for detection Mcl-1 gene expression in tested samples and normal samples.
Keywords: Apoptosis; Breast Cancer; Curcumin; Mcl-1 gene.