Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41272089›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Repurposing cephalosporins as excellent anticancer agents and chemosensitizers for inflammation-driven cancer therapy.

Nianqiu Liu, Weihan Cao, Jiefu Tang, Ruimei Dong, Juan Guo, Zhuang Luo, Qian Yao, Song Teng, Zhuoxuan Liang, Yuntao Yang and 5 more

Erratum issuedAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Nianqiu Liu *The Key Laboratory of Breast Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Weihan Cao *The Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Jiefu TangThe Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Ruimei DongThe School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Juan GuoThe School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Zhuang LuoThe Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Qian YaoThe Institute of Yunnan Tumor, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Song TengThe School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Zhuoxuan LiangThe School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Yuntao YangThe School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Menying GuThe School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Jie ZhouThe Key Laboratory of Breast Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Wenlin ChenThe Key Laboratory of Breast Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Hongmin LiangThe Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China. kmlianghongmin@163.com.
Xiaoqiong HeThe School of Public Health, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China. hexiaoqiong@kmmu.edu.cn.

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China 81760538Young Talent Fund of Yunnan Provincial Education Department 2024J0248Young Talent Fund of Yunnan Provincial Education Department 2025J0188Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Department and Kunming Medical University Joint Special Key Project 202301AY070001-009
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Could cephalosporin antibiotics, extending beyond their established antimicrobial role, be repurposed as precision anticancer agents and chemosensitizers, particularly against inflammation-driven carcinogenesis? To address this question, this study systematically evaluated the anti-colorectal cancer efficacy of cephalosporins both as monotherapies and in synergistic combinations, elucidating their underlying molecular mechanisms. Employing combinatorial phenotypic screening (viability, cell cycle, apoptosis, colony formation), BALB/c nude mouse xenografts, and omics profiling (RNA-seq, RT-qPCR), we identified conserved anticancer pathways and core regulatory axes. Among 18 evaluated cephalosporins, therapeutic specificity was largely associated exclusively variable side-chain moieties, not the conserved β-lactam core. Cefamandole nafate (CAN) and cefuroxime sodium (CUS) demonstrated potent dual efficacy against colorectal cancer model while enhancing cisplatin chemosensitivity. Building on links to inflammation-driven chemosensitization, CUS synergistically potentiated cisplatin and levofloxacin cytotoxicity in colorectal cancer. This synergy was mechanistically driven by apoptosis induction, cell cycle arrest, significant up-regulation of HMOX1 (80-fold peak in combinations; 40-fold as monotherapy) and DDIT3, coupled with down-regulation of MUC1, CASC19, KRT23, SPNS3, LFNG, HS3ST1, NCOA5, and GJB4. Crucially, we reveal for the first time that CUS significantly up-regulates HMOX1 expression in HCT116 cells in a dose-dependent manner, establishing this ferroptosis regulator as the central effector governing both intrinsic anticancer activity and chemosensitization. This study unveils the translational potential of repurposing cephalosporins for combinatorial precision oncology strategies targeting inflammation-driven cancers.

Indexed as

Antineoplastic AgentsCephalosporinsColorectal NeoplasmsDrug RepositioningInflammationAnimalsApoptosisCell Line, TumorCisplatinDrug SynergismHumansMiceMice, Inbred BALB CMice, NudeXenograft Model Antitumor AssaysAntineoplastic AgentsCephalosporinsCisplatinCephalosporin antibioticsChemical structure anticancer activityChemotherapy sensitizationHMOX1Inflammation driven carcinogenesis

Identifiers

PMID41272089
PMCPMC12638924

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.