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Capsaicin: a novel therapy for human small cell lung cancer
Author(s) -
Dom Aaron M,
Lau Jamie K,
Brown Kathleen C,
Shiflett Brandon S,
Witte Ted R,
Hardman W Elaine,
Dasgupta Piyali
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.582.2
Capsaicin, the major active ingredient of chili peppers, has been shown to induce apoptosis in multiple human cancer cell lines in cell culture as well as animal models. The present study examines the anti‐neoplastic activity of capsaicin in human small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Here we show that capsaicin induced 5–6 fold apoptosis in a panel of human SCLC cell lines, but did not affect normal human lung epithelial cells. The dietary administration of capsaicin decreased the growth of H69 and DMS53 human SCLC tumors xenotransplanted in nude mice. The growth‐inhibitory activity of capsaicin was independent of TRPV1, the classical receptor for capsaicin. In contrast, depletion of TRPV6 by siRNA ablated the growth‐inhibitory activity of capsaicin. Our findings suggest that capsaicin may have potential applications as a novel agent for management and therapy of human SCLCs.