Abstract
Background
Combining drugs has been suggested as a potential therapeutic approach to combat drug resistance and boost the effectiveness of cancer monotherapy regimens. The present study is intended to investigate the efficacy of the combination of histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) mocetinostat and the antimetabolite drug capecitabine in breast cancer treatment in a pre-clinical mouse model.
Methods and Results
Female mice were assorted into the control group, capecitabine group, mocetinostat group, and capecitabine plus mocetinostat group. At the end of the 21-day experimental period, the body weight, tumor weight, tumor tissue recorded, and lung tissue of the animals were examined histologically. The body weight of the mice in the drug-treated groups decreased by approximately 18%. Tumor weights decreased by 21% in the mocetinostat group, 27.5% in the capecitabine group, and 45% in the combined group. In lung tissue, it was observed that nodules decreased, tissue integrity was preserved with dual drug administration, and it was effective on metastases.
Conclusion
In summary, mocetinostat combined with capecitabine produced a synergistic effect on the inhibition of breast cancer and was more effective in reducing tumor size than single use.