Abstract
We compared the in vitro effect of boric acid (BA) versus phenylboronic acid (PBA) on the migration of prostate and breast cancer cell lines and non-tumorigenic cells from the same tissues. Treatment at 24 hours with BA (< or =500 microM) did not inhibit chemotaxis on fibronectin in any cell line. However, treatment over the same time course with concentrations of PBA as low as 1 muM significantly inhibited cancer cell migration without effecting non-tumorigenic cell lines. The compounds did not affect cell adhesion or viability at 24 hours but did alter morphology; both decreased cancer cell viability at eight days. These results suggest that PBA is more potent than BA in targeting the metastatic and proliferative properties of cancer cells.