Amygdalin may potentiate the effects of lapatinib on SK-BR-3 cancer cell death through increasing Bax expression

 HER-2 Positive breast cancer is one of the aggressive types of cancer and is resistant to chemotherapy drugs such as lapatinib .Amygdalin is a natural compound found in the seeds of fruits such as apricot, peache, apple and almond. In recent years, antitumor effects of amygdalin have been reported in different types of cancer cells. The present study aimed to investigate the cytotoxic effectes of amygdalin in combination with lapatinib, on cell viability and Bax expression in SK-BR-3 breast cancer cell line as a cell line with high expression of HER-2.

After cell culture we evaluated the survival of SK-BR-3 cells by MTT after 48 hours of treatment with different concentrations of amygdalin and lapatinib alone and in combination. The pre-apoptotic Bax expression level was measured by western blot method.

Amygdalin and lapatinib significantly decreased survival of SK-BR-3 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The simultaneous use of amygdalin with lapatinib showed that amygdalin enhanced the lethal effect of lapatinib. Also, amygdalin at the concentration of 10 mg/ml increased the effects of 200 nM lapatinib on the expression of Bax protein.

This study showed that the amygdalin-lapatinib combination could be effective for breast cancer patients with HER-2 overexpression. However, more studies are recommended to obtain more definitive results.