Objective: To determine whether Arsenic Trioxide may be an effective treatment of human ovarian carcinoma, we examined if it induced apoptosis in human ovarian cancer cell line.
Methods: The human ovarian cell line SKOV3 was exposed to different concentrations of As2O3: 0 (control), 0.1 microM, 1 microM, 5 microM and 10 microM. The effect on cells proliferation and apoptotic parameters was examined.
Results: The most effective inhibitory Arsenic Trioxide concentrations were 5 microM and 10 microM, causing growth inhibition of 79% and 83%, respectively. The maximum inhibitory effect of Arsenic Trioxide on cellular proliferation was seen after 48 h. No morphological or molecular features of apoptosis have been observed. At the same time, there were no typical changes of cellular necrosis.
Conclusions: The exact mechanism by which Arsenic Trioxide inhibits the growth of ovarian cancer cells is probably not by apoptosis. However, since As2O3 has been shown to inhibit ovarian cancer cellular growth, it should be further elucidated as a possible chemotherapeutic agent of ovarian cancer.