Enhanced efficacy of chemo-photodynamic therapy of rhabdomyosarcoma cells by using vitamin K3 as a neoadjuvant agent

• Published in: Laser physics 2019-01, Vol.29 (1), p.15603
• Main Authors: Mahmood, R, Khurshid, A, Khan, J A, Rafi, M, Yousaf, M S, Maqsood, M, Aalam, M, Salman, M, Ikram, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: chemotherapy; combination therapy; menadione; photodynamic therapy; Photosense; vitamin K
• ISSN: 1054-660X; 1555-6611
• DOI: 10.1088/1555-6611/aaf2d5

Nowadays combination of various therapeutic modalities is an attractive strategy in cancer treatment. In order to develop more efficient combinational therapy, we investigated the effect of Vitamin K3 (menadione) to enhance the cytotoxic action of chemo-photodynamic therapy against Rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cell line, using Photosense as a photosensitizer and different chemo therapeutic agents. RD cell line was cultured for the evaluation of efficacy in the presence and absence of vitamin K3 with other chemotherapeutic agents. Diode laser (λ  =  635 nm) was used for initializing the photodynamic action of Photosense mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT). Cytotoxicity was measured by using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Pre-treatment for 24 h to RD cells with K3 significantly potentiates sensitivity of chemotherapy. Chemotherapeutic agents and K3 showed significant killing effect when combined with PDT, at very low doses. These results suggest that this procedure could be the basis for an improved chemo-PDT protocol for cancer control.