Anticancer Potential of EDTA: A Preliminary in Vitro Study

Department of Anatomy, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.

²Department of Radiological Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Japan.

³Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Japan.

Corresponding Author: Loreto B. Feril Jr, Department of Anatomy, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan, Tel: +81-76-434-7265; E-Mail:  [email protected]

Received Date: 20 Dec 2016   
Accepted Date: 04 Jan 2016   
Published Date: 09 Jan 2017

Copyright © 2017 Feril LB Jr

Citation: Feril LB Jr, Ogawa K, Watanabe A, Ogawa R, et al. (2017). Anticancer Potential of EDTA: A Preliminary in Vitro Study. Mathews J Cancer Sci. 2(1): 009.

ABSTRACT

To determine the potential anticancer activity of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), six cancer cell lines of human origin (U937, C-32, HeLa, HSC-2, Molt-4, and U87-MG) were treated with different concentrations of EDTA, and then assayed for cell viability. The melanoma C-32 cell line, which was found to be moderately sensitive to EDTA, was then compared to normal melanocytes, on the other hand, a relatively resistant cell line Molt-4 was then chosen for further investigation to determine the role of calcium-chelating activity of EDTA against the cells. The result showed that the cell lines had different levels of sensitivity to EDTA; and, that melanoma cells are more sensitive compared to melanocytes. Comparison of EDTA toxicity to that of a known calcium-selective chelator, BAPTA, also showed marked differences in toxicity profiles, which may suggest that the calcium chelating ability of EDTA may not be a major player in its toxicity against the cancer cells. Further study should be done to investigate how such anticancer effects work in vivo; and also, if EDTA can be utilized as an enhancer of other anticancer therapies, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hyperthermia.