Aloperine in combination with therapeutic adenoviral vector synergistically suppressed the growth of non-small cell lung cancer

Purpose Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and ranked top in terms of incidence and mortality in men and women. Recently, improvements in treatment approaches for NSCLC have reported, but still, there is a need to devise innovative treatment strategies, especially to manage the advanced and metastatic stage of NSCLC. Aloperine (ALO), an herbal alkaloid, has exerted anti-cancer effects in many cancers. However, the use of any chemotherapeutic agents is dose limited due to possible adverse effects and drug-resistance issues. Therefore, a combination of chemotherapy with viral-based targeted gene therapy may provide a novel treatment strategy for NSCLC. Methods/results In this study, the results of the MTT and flow cytometry-based assays showed that Aloperine–Adbic (adenoviral vector expressing p14 ARF /p53 ) combined treatment on NSCLC cells synergistically produced anti-proliferative effects, induced apoptosis, and arrested cell cycle at the G1 phase. Furthermore, the expression analysis suggested that the p53 / p21 pathway might contribute to achieving aforesaid cytotoxic effects. The ALO–Adbic combined treatment prolonged the percent survival of NSCLC xenograft models. Conclusion In conclusion, ALO–Adbic combination can produce synergistic anti-cancer effects at low doses, and may offer a more effective and less toxic new treatment strategy for NSCLC.