Resveratrol Increases Ability of Rapamycin to Kill Breast Cancer Cells

Cancer researchers have found that when the red wine compound resveratrol was added to the chemotherapeutic agent rapamycin, the combination of drugs was more effective in killing breast cancer cells than was rapamycin alone.

Investigators at the Cleveland Clinic (OH, USA) tested the anticancer properties of rapamycin and resveratrol on three different lines of breast cancer cells growing in culture. The cell lines included a rapamycin resistant cell line, MDA-MB-231, as well as a rapamycin sensitive cell line, MCF-7.

Results published in the December 17, 2010, online edition of the journal Cancer Letters revealed that the combined use of resveratrol and rapamycin resulted in modest additive inhibitory effects on the growth of breast cancer cells, mainly through suppressing rapamycin-induced AKT (v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog) activation.

This approach introduced a novel drug combination whereby resveratrol potentiated the growth inhibitory effect of rapamycin, with the added benefit of preventing eventual resistance to rapamycin, likely by suppressing AKT signaling.

"Rapamycin has been used in clinical trials as a cancer treatment. Unfortunately, after a while, the cancer cells develop resistance to rapamycin,” said senior author Dr. Charis Eng, chairperson of the Genomic Medicine Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. "Our findings show that resveratrol seems to mitigate rapamycin-induced drug resistance in breast cancers, at least in the laboratory. If these observations hold true in the clinic setting, then enjoying a glass of red wine or eating a bowl of boiled peanuts – which has a higher resveratrol content than red wine – before rapamycin treatment for cancer might be a prudent approach.”

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