Uptake and Cytotoxicity Characterization of Radioiodine in MCF-7 and SKBR3 Breast Cancer Cell Lines

Radioiodine is an effective and low-risk therapy modality in well-differentiated thyroid cancer patients post near-total thyroidectomy. Extra thyroidal tumors such as breast cancer are known to be able to uptake radioiodine. The aim of this stud y was to analyze the uptake, efflux and cytotoxicity of radioiodine for two molecular types of breast cancer cell lines . Two types of breast cancer cell lines were used in this study, MCF-7 (luminal A type) and SKBR3 (HER2 type). The HaCaT cell line was used as normal cells. Iodine -125 (I-125) was used to measured radioiodine uptake and efflux. Clonogenic assay was used to assess cytotoxicity of iodine-131 (I-131) based on the tested cell reproductive ability. The radioiodine uptake in SKBR3 cell s was found to be higher than that of MCF-7 and HaCaT cells at p <0.05. The reproductive ability of MCF-7 cells are lower than SKBR3 cells at p <0.05 . Both breast cancer cells have less reproduction ability than HaCaT cells at p <0.05 . Both types of breast cancer cells present the ability to uptake radioiodine and show a high sensitivity to radioiodine exposure. N ormal cells also demonstrate an ability to uptake radioiodine. However, they have a better tolerance to the amount of I-131 exposure.  These findings could potentially lead to the use if I-131 for ablative therapy in breast cancer, similiar to its use in the treatment of thyroid cancer. Received: 4 October 2015;  Revised: 14 August 2016;  Accepted: 2 September 2016