Antitumour activity of 5-fluorouracil, verapamil and hyperthermia against human gastric adenocarcinoma cell (AGS) in vitro

The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of verapamil (20 μM) and hyperthermia (42 °C) as modifiers of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), used at different concentrations, in inhibiting the growth of gastric adenocarcinoma cells. Combined verapamil and hyperthermia treatment showed a significant decrease in cell count when compared to control (72.2%), hyperthermia alone (68.4%), or verapamil alone (65%). At a high concentration of 5-FU (50 μg/ml), verapamil and hyperthermia had an additive growth inhibitory effect over a 4-day period when compared to control. A combination of 5-FU at low concentration (0.5 μg/ml) with verapamil significantly suppressed growth by 31.2% in comparison to control — with this effect being independent of the duration of treatment. The modalities analysed in this study require further investigation and have potential for clinical applicability to gastric cancer therapy in the future.