ArticleInternational journal of cancer2013
The triterpenoid cucurbitacin B augments the antiproliferative activity of chemotherapy in human breast cancer.
Article in International journal of cancer, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Triterpenes in breast cancer: a systematic review of preclinical evidence in rodents.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Recent Advances in the Application of Cucurbitacin B as an Anticancer Agent.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Cucurbitacin B alleviates DSS-induced ulcerative colitis by improving gut microbiota disorder in C57BL/6 mice.AMB Express · 2025Article
- Plant-Based Anticancer Compounds With a Focus on Breast Cancer.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2024Review
- Review
- Association between the antioxidant properties of SESN proteins and anti-cancer therapies.Amino acids · 2023Review
- Cucurbitacins as potential anticancer agents: new insights on molecular mechanisms.Journal of translational medicine · 2022Review
- Cucurbitacins as Potent Chemo-Preventive Agents: Mechanistic Insight and Recent Trends.Biomolecules · 2022Review
- Pharmacological and Clinical Efficacy ofMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Induction of ferroptosis in human nasopharyngeal cancer cells by cucurbitacin B: molecular mechanism and therapeutic potential.Cell death & disease · 2021Article
- Targeting Cancer Metabolism and Current Anti-Cancer Drugs.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2021Review
- Characterization and anti-uterine tumor effect of extract from Prunella vulgaris L.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2020Article
- Cucurbitacin B and cisplatin induce the cell death pathways in MB49 mouse bladder cancer model.Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2020Article
- Natural Compounds in Sex Hormone-Dependent Cancers: The Role of Triterpenes as Therapeutic Agents.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2020Review
- Role of Phytochemicals in Cancer Prevention.International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Review
- Article
- Naturally occurring anti-cancer compounds: shining from Chinese herbal medicine.Chinese medicine · 2019Review
- Synthesis of Cucurbitacin B Derivatives as Potential Anti-Hepatocellular Carcinoma Agents.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Article
- A new sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of cucurbitacin B in rat plasma: application to an absolute bioavailability study.RSC advances · 2018Article
- Inhibition of paclitaxel resistance and apoptosis induction by cucurbitacin B in ovarian carcinoma cells.Oncology letters · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Despite recent advances in therapy, breast cancer remains the second most common cause of death from malignancy in women. Chemotherapy plays a major role in breast cancer management, and combining chemotherapeutic agents with nonchemotherapeutic agents is of considerable clinical interest. Cucurbitacins are triterpenes compounds found in plants of the Cucurbitaceae family, reported to have anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities. Previously, we have shown antiproliferative activity of cucurbitacin B (CuB) in breast cancer, and we hypothesized that combining CuB with chemotherapeutic agents can augment their antitumor effect. Here, we show that a combination of CuB with either docetaxel (DOC) or gemcitabine (GEM) synergistically inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells in vitro. This antiproliferative effect was accompanied by an increase in apoptosis rates. Furthermore, in vivo treatment of human breast cancer orthotopic xenografts in immunodeficient mice with CuB at either low (0.5 mg/kg) or high (1 mg/kg) doses in combination with either DOC (20 mg/kg) or GEM (12.5mg/kg) significantly reduced tumor volume as compared with monotherapy of each drug. Importantly, no significant toxicity was noted with low-dose CuB in combination with either DOC or GEM. In conclusion, combination of CuB at a relatively low concentration with either of the chemotherapeutic agents, DOC or GEM, shows prominent antiproliferative activity against breast cancer cells without increased toxicity. This promising combination should be examined in therapeutic trials of breast cancer.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.