Use of the disulfiram/copper complex for breast cancer chemoprevention in MMTV-erbB2 transgenic mice

The disulfiram/copper complex (DS/Cu) has been demonstrated to exert potent anti-tumor effects in various types of cancer. At present, whether DS/Cu has chemopreventive effects on breast cancer development remains to be fully elucidated. In the present study, using MMTV-erbB2 transgenic mice, it was identified for the first time that DS/Cu treatment was able to inhibit cell growth in breast cancer cells while sparing normal cells in vitro, in addition to delaying the development of mammary tumor development in MMTV-erbB2 transgenic mice in vivo. Morphological examination demonstrated that DS/Cu treatment resulted in cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis activation in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the present study observed that DS/Cu may inhibit proliferation via inhibition of AKT and cyclin D1 signaling and promote apoptosis via c-Jun N-terminal kinase activation and suppression of nuclear factor κB signaling. These results suggested that DS/Cu treatment may be a promising therapy for the prevention of erbB2-positive breast cancer.