Multi-Mode Assessment Approach on Anti-Cancer Potency of Vanadium on Breast Cancer Cells

Objective: The anti-cancer activities of vanadium and its compounds have been widely investigated in cancer research recently. This is mainly attributed to vanadium and its compounds' near ideal properties for being an anti-cancer agent. Most of the current classical chemotherapeutics used in cancer therapy are known to bring numerous strong side effects. Thus, there is a need to discover new drugs which have mild or no side effects and which are effective in low doses. For the treatment of breast cancer (a disease with a difficult and costly treatment process, high mortality, and which is especially prevalent in woman), novel drugs and approaches are required. With this in mind, this study investigates the potential therapeutic efficacies of vanadyl sulphate, a member of the vanadium compounds with ideal anti-cancer properties such as cytotoxicity, antiproliferative and proapoptotic activities on human breast adenocarcinoma cells (MCF-7) including morphological and ultrastructural changes. Materials and Methods: A MTT colorimetric assay was used for cell viability assessment. Morphological and ultrastructural changes were evaluated using confocal and transmission electron microscopy methods, respectively. The apoptosis stimulating property of vanadyl sulphate was tested under a flow cytometry. And also, cell cycle and proliferation inhibitory effects were examined using the immunohistochemistry technique. Results: Consequently, vanadyl sulphate was detected to be cytotoxic on MCF-7 cells and also damaged the morphology and ultrastructure of cells, stimulated the expression of cyclins and E-cadherin, which in turn triggered apoptotic cell death. Conclusion: According to our findings, vanadyl sulphate was determined to be a strong, potent candidate for anti-cancer drug development and is advisable for further investigations in this area. Keywords: Breast cancer, vanadium, cytotoxic activity