• Jufan Zhu, Luo Wang, Yuanjun Yang, Mengfei Han, Yiheng Yang, Renqian Feng, and Yan Hu.
• Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
• J. Investig. Med. 2023 Jun 1; 71 (5): 511525511-525.

AbstractOwing to the high rates of relapse and migration, ovarian cancer (OC) has been recognized as the most lethal gynecological malignancy worldwide. The activity of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway is frequently associated with OC cell proliferation and migration. Despite this knowledge, inhibition of EGFR signaling in OC patients failed to achieve satisfactory therapeutic effects. In this study, we identified that bruceine D (BD) and EGFR inhibitor, afatinib, combination resulted in synergistic anti-OC effects. The results indicated that compared with one of both drugs alone, the combination of BD and afatinib slowed the DNA replication rate, inhibition of cell viability, and proliferation and clone formation. This resulted in cell cycle arrest and cell apoptosis. In addition, the combination of BD and afatinib possessed a stronger ability to inhibit the OC cell adhesion and migration than treatment with BD or afatinib alone. Mechanistically, the combined treatment triggered intense DNA damage, suppressed DNA damage repair, and enhanced the inhibition of the EGFR pathway. These results demonstrated that compared with each pathway inhibition, combined blocking of both DNA damage repair and the EGFR pathway appears to more effective against OC treatment. The results support the potential of BD and afatinib combination as a therapeutic strategy for OC patients.

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