Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Glucocorticoids, such as dexamethasone (DEX), have been widely used in conjunction with cancer therapy due to inducing apoptosis in lymphoid cells and preventing nausea and vomiting. However, recent research indicates induction of therapy-resistance by glucocorticoids in lung cancer in European, although it is unclear whether DEX mediates the resistance of cisplatin-induced apoptosis in primary cells from resected Chinese human lung adenocarcinoma specimens. METHODS: Ten primary cells from resected Chinese human lung adenocarcinoma specimens were treated with cisplatin in the presence or absence of DEX. The number of viable and dead cells was evaluated by trypan blue exclusion; the cell proliferation was measured by the MTT-assay; the cell apoptotic rate was analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: In this study, it was found that DEX reduced the effect of cisplatin-induced proliferation inhibition in all of the primary cells from 10 examined tumor samples. On the other hand, the cell death and apoptosis induced by cisplatin in human lung adenocarcinoma cells line A549 could also be inhibited in the presence of DEX during 2 and 3 weeks' co-incubation. CONCLUSION: DEX may reduce the effect of chemotherapy with cisplatin, and it urges carefully reconsideration of the application of DEX in treatment of patients with lung adenocarcinoma in China.