Boric Acid and Hyperthermia Combination: A New Cancer Therapy in The Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma and...

Boric acid (BA) has gained attention as a potential micronutrient due to its critical cellular roles, including its apoptotic effects on various cancer cell types. Hyperthermia (HT), depending on the type of cancer, has also been shown to enhance therapeutic efficacy. This study aims to investigate the combined effects of BA and hyperthermia on HepG2 and SH-SY5Y cancer cell lines. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of BA was first determined to assess its impact on cell viability and proliferation. IC₅₀ values of BA according to cells were found as IC_50HepG2:28.04 mM and IC_50SH-SY5Y:20.61 mM. Subsequently, DNA damage and apoptotic markers were evaluated under hyperthermic conditions at the IC₅₀ concentrations. The combination of BA and HT exhibited a significant antiproliferative effect in both cell lines, with increased expression of Caspase-9 and p53 (p < 0.05), and decreased expression of Akt-1 (p < 0.05), compared to the control group. Additionally, a significant increase in tail length (TL) was observed, indicating elevated levels of DNA damage (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that the combined application of BA and hyperthermia significantly enhances anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic, and DNA-damaging effects in HepG2 and SH-SY5Y cells.