Synergistic Effect of Cetuximab in Combination with Bee Venom: A Novel Approach for the Treatment of Colon Cancer

Abstract

Anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody (cetuximab) is a promising new targeted therapy for cancer treatment currently approved to treat colon cancer. The synergistic effect of (Ce/BV) on two colon cancer cell lines (HCT116 and Caco-2) was investigated in this work to get the lowest lethal dosages of cetuximab. MTT assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of cetuximab, bee venom, and their combination. Flow cytometry analysis was used to look at cell cycle distribution and apoptosis induction. RT-PCR can identify changes in apoptotic genes expression. The results show that cetuximab and BV have IC50 against Caco-2 (686 and 10.5 g/ml, respectively) and HCT-116 (740 and 13 g/ml, respectively). According to the results, the combination treatment had a synergistic inhibitory impact on two cell lines (CI< 1). Both cell lines were arrested in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. In addition, when combination therapy was used instead of cetuximab alone, apoptosis was dramatically increased in both cell lines. In addition, after treatment with (Ce/BV), Bcl2 and p53 were shown to be down-regulated and up-regulated, respectively, in two cell lines. As a result, the combination of cetuximab and BV showed preclinical efficacy in the treatment of colon cancer