Insulin-like growth factor-1 inhibits cell death induced by anticancer drugs in the MCF-7 cells: involvement of growth factors in drug resistance.

The involvement of growth factors in cell survival in the presence of anticancer drugs was investigated. Cell death was induced in the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7, by the structurally and mechanistically unrelated chemotherapeutic drugs puromycin, actinomycin D, 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, and adriamycin. The effect of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and insulin on cell death was evaluated by two different methods: (1) trypan blue dye exclusion test and (2) lactic dehydrogenase release into the culture medium. IGF-1 inhibited cell death induced by each of the diverse drugs in a concentration-dependent manner reaching a maximal effect at 40 ng/ml. Insulin mimicked the effect of IGF-1 only at supraphysiological concentration with an optimal effect at 10,000 ng/ml. EGF had no effect on cell death up to 100 ng/ml. Our finding that IGF-1 specifically enhanced MCF-7 cell survival in the presence of different anticancer drugs suggests the involvement of growth factors in the mechanism of drug resistance.