OCIMUM TENUIFLORUM DECREASES THE RATE OF GROWTH AND METASTATIC POTENTIAL OF MURINE 4T1 MAMMARY CARCINOMA CELLS

Combination therapies involving chemotherapy and radiation, aimed at reducing metastasis and mortality have faced challenges, including limiting the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Ocimum tenuiflorum (O. tenuiflorum) has been used traditionally in Indian culture for the treatment of disease and proven scientifically to have immunomodulatory effects. The purpose of this study was to determine the anti-tumor effect of the natural plant O. tenuiflorum on 4T1 murine mammary carcinoma cells (4T1). Hypothesis: O. tenuiflorum decreases the rate of growth and metastatic potential of 4T1 tumor cells. Method: 4T1 cells were grown in culture medium and exposed to increasing concentrations of O. tenuiflorum. The metastatic potential was determined using the scratch assay technique. We were also interested in the mechanism by which O. tenuiflorum decreased the rate of growth and metastatic potential of 4T1 cells. Therefore, we determined the changes in the mRNA expression of IL-4R, previously reported to drive breast cancer metastasis following exposure of 4T1 tumor cells to O. tenuiflorum. Results: Exposing 4T1 cells to various concentrations of O. tenuiflorum decreased the rate of growth and metastatic potential of 4T1 tumor cells. Also, O. tenuiflorum downregulated the expression of IL-4R by 4T1 tumor cells with increasing concentration. We conclude that O. tenuiflorum has the potential to be used as adjunct treatment in management of breast cancer. Further studies will investigate in-depth the mechanism of O. tenuiflorum on 4T1 including apoptosis, migration and other molecular mechanism on tumor evasiveness.