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Published on: September 8, 2017
Docetaxel shows radiosensitization in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells
Chang-Xin Geng1, Zhao-Chong Zeng, Ji-Yao Wang
1Department of Gastroenterology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao 266071, Shandong Province, China. changxin_geng@hotmail.com
Aim:
To determine the radiosensitizing potential of docetaxel in human hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC-7721 cells and its mechanisms.
Methods:
SMMC-7721 cells were incubated with docetaxel at 0.125, 0.25, and 0.5 nmoL/L for 24 h and at 0.125 and 0.25 nmol/L for 48 h before irradiation. Radiation doses were given from 0 to 10 Gy. Cell survival was measured by a standard clonogenic assay after a 9-d incubation. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione (GSH) are detected after being given the same dose of docetaxel for the same time.
Results:
The sensitization enhancement ratios (SER) for SMMC-7721 cells determined at the 50% survival level were 1.15, 1.21 and 1.49 at 0.125, 0.25, and 0.5 nmol/L for pre-incubation of 24 h, respectively; the SER were 1.42, 1.67 at 0.125 and 0.25 nmol/L, for pre-incubation of 48 h, respectively. The ROS of SMMC-7721 cells increased and GSH decreased after pretreatment with the same doses of docetaxel for 24 or 48 h.
Conclusion:
A radiosensitizing effect of docetaxel could be demonstrated unambiguously in this cell line used. In addition, our data showed that the mechanism of radiopotentiation by docetaxel probably does not involve a G2/M block in SMMC-7721 cells, and ROS generation and GSH deletion may play a key role in the radiosensitizing effect of docetaxel.
