The triterpenoid CDDO-ME had already been proven effective in inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis (programmed cellular death, a process that's often disrupted in cancer) in breast cancer cells, and blocked the growth of breast cancer cells in mice. CDDO and its synthetic variant CDDO-ME are undergoing clinical trials for leukemia and solid tumors.
Beginning at 10 weeks of age, mice that were genetically altered to become susceptible to breast cancer were fed either a control diet, a dose of CDDO-ME, LG 100268, or a combination of the two. After 40 weeks, all the control mice developed tumors. However, only 12 percent of mice on the CDDO-ME diet and 29 percent of the mice fed with LG100268 developed tumors. Most significantly, no tumors were found in the group fed a combination of both drugs.
"The drugs that were fed in this experiment were apparently well tolerated, and the mice gained weight throughout the experiment," Liby said. "These studies indicate that CDDO-ME and LG100268, even as individual drugs, can delay tumor development in living organisms. But the combination of the triterpenoid and rexinoid compounds was particularly powerful. This synergy could hold the key to prevention of breast cancer and should be considered for future clinical trials."
Genetic reduction of circulating insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 inhibits azoxymethane-induced colon tumorigenesis in mice
Mice with a genetic alteration that reduced amounts of a key growth hormone had fewer carcinogen-induced tumors than mice with normal levels of the hormone, a research group from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), University of Texas-Austin and Mount Sinai School of Medicine found.
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Source:American Association for Cancer Research