Effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on colon carcinoma Caco-2 cell responsiveness to topoisomerase inhibitor drugs

Numerous studies demonstrate that the chemopreventive effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on colon cancer is mediated through inhibition of cell growth and induction of apoptosis. For these effects non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have been recently employed as sensitising agents in chemotherapy. We have shown previously that treatments with aspirin and NS-398, a cyclo-oxygenase-2 selective inhibitor, affect proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of the human colon adenocarcinoma Caco-2 cells. In the present study, we have evaluated the effects of aspirin and NS-398 non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on sensitivity of Caco-2 cells to irinotecan (CPT 11) and etoposide (Vp-16) topoisomerase poisons. We find that aspirin co-treatment is able to prevent anticancer drug-induced toxicity, whereas NS-398 co-treatment poorly affects anticancer drug-induced apoptosis. These effects correlate with the different ability of aspirin and NS-398 to interfere with cell cycle during anticancer drug co-treatment. Furthermore, aspirin treatment is associated with an increase in bcl-2 expression, which persists in the presence of the anticancer drugs. Our data indicate that aspirin, but not NS-398, determines a cell cycle arrest associated with death suppression. This provides a plausible mechanism for the inhibition of apoptosis and increase in survival observed in anticancer drug and aspirin co-treatment. British Journal of Cancer (2002) 86, 1501–1509. DOI: 10.1038/sj/bjc/6600289 www.bjcancer.com © 2002 Cancer Research UK