Curcumin-Celecoxib: a synergistic and rationale combination chemotherapy for breast cancer

Over-expression of COX-2 has been linked with various molecular signaling such as carcinogenesis, invasiveness, and malignant tumour metastasis. Besides, the use of celecoxib is also related to lowering the risk of breast cancer. This study therefore designed to explore the synergistic inhibitory effect of the combination of curcumin and celecoxib on the growth of human breast cancer cells.

In our investigation, we treated MDA-MB-231 cancer cells with different concentrations of curcumin and celecoxib. The enzyme-linked immunoassay was used to measure the COX-2 expression levels. MDA-MB-231 growth was examined by MTS cell viability assay, and synergy detection was carried out using combination index approaches. The drug-likeliness of the tested drugs (curcumin and celecoxib) were computed and predicted ADME pharmacokinetic parameters by in silico. Further, we have conducted BOILED-Egg plot and bioavailability radar analysis for the curcumin and celecoxib.

The result of the physicochemical and ADMET/pharmacokinetic properties showed that these two drugs have good oral and optically bioavailable absorption. The present in silico study could offer a reliable theoretical basis for future structural modification of these compounds to treat breast cancer. The in vitro results suggested that curcumin and celecoxib individually inhibited the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The effect was synergistic for MDA-MB-231 cells relative to the two compounds individually. The synergistic growth inhibitory effect was mediated by a mechanism that possibly involves inhibition of the COX-2 pathways.

Our findings show the prominent anti-proliferative effects of celecoxib and/or curcumin on MDA-MB-231 cells, providing a rationale for further detailed preclinical and potential clinical studies of this combination for breast cancer therapy. Further, these computed parameters suggested that curcumin possesses a high tendency to act as an adjuvant drug with celecoxib in the treatment of breast cancer.