Resveratrol Exerts Differential Effects in Vitro and in Vivo against Ovarian Cancer Cells

Epithelial ovarian cancer represents the most lethal gynecological cancer, and the high mortality rate makes this malignancy a major health concern. Poor prognosis results from an inability to detect ovarian cancers at an early, curable stage, as well as from the lack of an effective therapy. Thus, effective and novel strategies for prevention and treatment with non-toxic agents merit serious consideration. Resveratrol, obtained from grapes, berries, peanuts and red wine, has been shown to have a potent growth-inhibitory effect against various human cancer cells as well as in in vivo preclinical cancer models. The objective here was to evaluate potential antitumor effects of resveratrol in both in vitro and in vivo NuTu-19 ovarian cancer models. In vitro an invasion assay was performed. After 48 h, the numbers of viable cells that invaded the extracellular matrix layer were reduced by 94% with resveratrol in comparison to control. For the in vivo anti-tumor assessment, 10 rats were injected with NuTu-19 cells into the ovarian bursa. Thereafter, half were provided with a diet mixed with a dose of 100 mg resveratrol/kg body weight/day for 28 days. Following sacrifice, anticancer effects were assessed by histological evaluation of ovarian as well as surrounding tissues, and immunohistochemical detection of cell proliferation and apoptosis, but there were no observable differences between the control and resveratrol-treated groups for any of the biological endpoints. While resveratrol is effective in suppressing the in vitro cellular invasion of NuTu-19 ovarian cancer cells, these effects do not appear to impact on in vivo NuTu-19 ovarian cancers in rats.