Abstract

Aim: To characterize, for each agent individually, the dose-dependent cytotoxic activity of cisplatin, curcumin, and a lipid-based vitamin E formulation in MCF-7 breast cancer cells, as groundwork for subsequent combination research.

Methods: MCF-7 cells were exposed to a range of escalating concentrations of cisplatin, or of curcumin and vitamin E, over an extended exposure period, after which viability was determined using the MTT colorimetric assay. For curcumin, background absorbance arising from its intrinsic pigmentation was corrected using acellular compound-only wells. Statistical comparisons were performed using the Mann-Whitney U test.

Results: Both cisplatin and curcumin significantly lowered MCF-7 viability relative to untreated controls in a dose-dependent fashion across all concentrations tested. A pronounced drop in viability was already evident with cisplatin at its lowest tested concentration. After correcting for background absorbance, curcumin still showed a marked cytotoxic effect. The lipid-based vitamin E formulation, however, showed no such concentration-dependent decline; at several doses, apparent viability was actually higher than in controls, an effect more consistent with the formulation’s poor aqueous solubility than with a true biological response.

Conclusion: Both cisplatin and curcumin exhibited consistent, reproducible cytotoxicity toward MCF-7 cells, whereas the tested lipid-based vitamin E formulation proved unsuitable for assessment under conventional aqueous culture conditions. Collectively, these single-agent concentration-response data lay the methodological groundwork for future studies combining cisplatin, curcumin, and more water-compatible vitamin E formulations in breast cancer models.

Keywords: breast neoplasms, cisplatin, curcumin, vitamin e, mcf-7 cells, cell survival

License

Copyright (c) 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to Cite

1.
Erdemir Cilasun G, Birincioğlu Ç. Cytotoxic effects of cisplatin, curcumin, and a lipid-based vitamin E formulation on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. J Trends Med Invest. 2026;2(2):64-71. https://doi.org/10.64512/JTMI.2026.28

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