Doxorubicin is an effective chemotherapy that is commonly used to treat breast cancer. The problem is that it can induce drug resistance in cancer cells. A new study released in 2016 suggests that fenugreek extracts can help sensitize the drug resistant breast cancer cells (stem cells or stem like cells) and make them more sensitive to the treatment with Doxorubicin.
For the study, researchers treated an epithelial breast cancer cell line called ZR-75-1 with doxorubicin for several cycles and made it resistant to the treatment. As a result, the drug resistant breast cancer cells (ZR-75-1-DR) had increased activity of breast cancer stem cells, which the drug could no longer have an effect against.
The study showed treatment with Trigonella foenum (Fenugreek) extract alone significantly decreased cell viability, clonogenicity and invasion capacity of the drug resistant breast cancer cells, which is desired.
Treatment with fenugreek extracts increased the chemo sensitivity of the drug resistant breast cancer cells to doxorubicin at low doses. In animals with ZR-75-1-DR xenografts, co-treatment with the extract and doxorubicin significantly induced regression in the tumor size. In comparison, treatment with doxorubicin alone failed to yield the same desired results.
Why is it that research was not conducted to see if Fenugreek extracts alone can kill breast cancer cells? The combo treatment could induce an even stronger drug resistance and at that time, what else can be used to treat the cancer with the ever increasing drug resistance? In a sense, the chemotherapy boosts the power of breast cancer cells which can sooner or later lead to metastasis and kill the patient.
Some studies indicate that natural therapeutics do not induce drug resistance while rendering a similar anticancer effect. (David Liu)
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