Improving the Antitumor Effect of Chemotherapy with Ocoxin as a Novel Adjuvant Agent to Treat Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men. Although many patients respond favorably to first-line treatments, castration—and chemotherapy—resistance arises after a few years, leading to metastasis. Thus, new approaches are being investigated using natural supplements to reinforce c...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Hernández Unzueta, Iera, Benedicto García, Aitor, Tellería González, Uxue, Sanz, Eduardo, Márquez Clavijo, Joana
Format: article
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Universidad del País Vasco
Repository:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/61503
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/61503
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:prostate cancer
cancer nutrition
adjuvant
chemotherapy
resistance
tumor microenvironment
fibroblast
osteoblast
Description
Summary:Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men. Although many patients respond favorably to first-line treatments, castration—and chemotherapy—resistance arises after a few years, leading to metastasis. Thus, new approaches are being investigated using natural supplements to reinforce current therapies. Ocoxin is a plant-based mixture with antitumor properties that have been proved in several cancers. Here, we evaluated the cytotoxic capacity of this compound itself and combined with Docetaxel, Enzalutamide and Olaparib as an adjuvant agent. We observed that Ocoxin reduced tumor cell viability; slowed down cell cycles; altered the expression of genes involved in DNA replication, cell cycles and the p53 signaling pathway; and reduced migratory capacity after stimulation with cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and osteoblasts in vitro and reduced tumor volume in vivo. The combination of the nutritional supplement with chemotherapy showed a higher cytotoxic effect than chemotherapy alone and reverted chemoresistance conferred by CAFs and osteoblasts. Moreover, the adjuvant therapy also improved the outcome in vivo compared to the treatment with solo chemotherapy, where mice developed smaller tumors and less angiogenesis. Therefore, Ocoxin arises as a good candidate for further studies in combination with current treatments for prostate-cancer patients.