Effects of doxorubicin, mitomycin C, and ethanol on Hep-G2 cells in vitro

There are conflicting results for experiments aimed at determining whether anticancer drug therapy of human hepatocellular carcinoma prolongs the survival rate effectively. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of low concentrations of doxorubicin, mitomycin C, and ethanol on cell replication (cell number and proliferation), and cell apoptosis of cultured human hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep-G2) cells. After 1 day of exposure doxorubicin inhibited cell replication initially by 72%, but a partial recovery of the cell number was observed. Mitomycin C inhibited to the same extent but without recovery. Ethanol reduced the cell number even further, the maximum inhibition (12 days after exposure) being 96.4%. After 3 days of exposure all three agents stopped cell replication at a level of 2%–4% of the control (P < 0.001). Cell apoptosis was activated most strikingly by mitomycin C (5 μg/ml) after 1 day of exposure and by ethanol (150 μl/ml) after 3 days of exposure. Two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance showed statistically significant differences, with ethanol being the most significant followed by mitomycin C doxorubicin, and the control (P < 0.01). Thus, a low dose of ethanol combined with an exposure time of up to 3 days appears to be an effective regimen to control growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro. The strong induction of apoptosis by ethanol might be of additional benefit for a local application in vivo. Received: 3 April 1998  / Accepted: 30 September 1998