This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sarkar, C. Articles by Basu, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sarkar, C. Articles by Basu, S.

Dopamine Increases the Efficacy of Anticancer Drugs in Breast and Colon Cancer Preclinical Models

Authors' Affiliations: ¹ Signal Transduction and Biogenic Amines Laboratory and ² Department of Medical Oncology, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata, India; and ³ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and ⁴ Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

Requests for reprints: Partha Sarathi Dasgupta, Signal Transduction and Biogenic Amines Laboratory, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, 37 S.P. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata 700026, India. Phone: 91-33-24765101, ext. 324; E-mail: partha42002{at}yahoo.com or Sujit Basu, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic, Gugg 1793, 200 First Street Southwest, Rochester, MN 55905. Phone: 507-284-1344; E-mail: basu.sujit{at}mayo.edu.

Purpose: Because neurotransmitter dopamine inhibits vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)–induced angiogenesis and as anti-VEGF agents act synergistically with anticancer drugs, we therefore investigated whether dopamine can increase the efficacies of these drugs.

Experimental Design: The effect of dopamine was investigated in human breast cancer–(MCF-7) and colon (HT29) cancer–bearing mice. Experimental groups received either dopamine or doxorubicin or dopamine plus doxorubicin in MCF-7 tumor-bearing mice, and either dopamine or 5-fluorouracil or dopamine plus 5-fluorouracil in HT29-bearing mice. Thereafter, tumor growth, angiogenesis, tumor cell apoptosis, life span, and the effect of dopamine on the growth and survival of tumor cells in vitro were determined. Finally, the effects of dopamine on tumor vascular permeability; on VEGF receptor-2, mitogen-activated protein kinase, and focal adhesion kinase phosphorylation; and also on the proliferation and migration of tumor endothelial cells were investigated.

Results: Dopamine, in combination with anticancer drugs, significantly inhibited tumor growth and increased the life span when compared with treatment with dopamine or anticancer drugs alone. Dopamine had no direct effects on the growth and survival of tumor cells. The antiangiogenic action of dopamine was mediated by inhibiting proliferation and migration of tumor endothelial cells through suppression of VEGF receptor-2, mitogen-activated protein kinase, and focal adhesion kinase phosphorylation.

Conclusion: Our study shows that dopamine significantly enhances the efficacies of commonly used anticancer drugs and also indicates that an inexpensive drug like dopamine, which is being extensively used in the clinics, might have a role as an antiangiogenic agent for the treatment of breast and colon cancer.