Combination of imatinib mesylate with lithium chloride and medroxyprogesterone acetate is highly active in Ishikawa endometrial carcinoma in vitro

The aim of the study was to investigate whether lithium chloride and medroxyprogesterone acetate can potentiate the cytotoxicity of imatinib mesylate in human endometrial cancer in vitro and the effect of midkine in these therapies. Imatinib mesylate (50 µM), lithium chloride (100 µM), medroxyprogesterone acetate (200 µM) and their combination were applied to monolayer and three dimensional cultures of human Ishikawa endometrial cancer for 72 hours. The cell proliferation index, apoptotic index, caspase-3 and midkine levels, cell cycle distributions in monolayer cultures and cell ultrastructure in spheroid cultures were evaluated. Results were statistically analyzed using the Student's t-test. All drug applications inhibited cell proliferation (p