Arsenic trioxide curbs proliferation of liver cancer cell HepG2

AIM To explore the inhibitive effect of arsenic trioxide (As 2O 3) on the proliferation of human liver cancer cell line HepG2. METHODS The morphologic changes, proliferation ability, colony forming rate of HepG2 treated by As 2O 3 were studied with light microscopy, growth curve, trypan blue and colony forming assay. The cytotoxicity of As 2O 3 on HepG2 was determined by MTT assay. RESULTS Colony forming rate of HepG2 with 5 μmol·L -1 As 2O 3( 1.5 ±1.2)% was lower than that with 1 μmol·L -1 As 2O 3 ( 12.3 ±2.2)%, P 0.01 and much lower than that of control group (30.0±4.2)%, P 0.01. As 2O 3 had a remarkable cytotoxic effect on HepG2 and cytotoxic effect was dose and time dependent. The cytotoxic effect was enhanced through the combination of As 2O 3 with 5 Fu or MMC. CONCLUSION As 2O 3 can significantly inhibit proliferation of HepG2 and so has a potential value of the clinical therapy on liver cancer.