Is Lung Cancer Cell Viability Altered by Doxycycline Exposure?

Grade:

12

Teacher:

Kevin Nieves Pichardo

Since the 1990s, mortality due to lung cancer has decreased significantly, mostly due to prevention methods in relation to tobacco use and smoking. There has also been development on the treatment side of the disease. Despite these developments, there is a survival rate prognosis of 5 years for lung cancer. However, there are also studies showing that doxycycline can affect the metastasis of lung cancer cells through MMP inhibition. This is the rationale of the study looking into whether lung cancer cell viability is altered by doxycycline exposure. To look at this relationship, cell cultures of A549 (an epithelial lung cancer cell line) were exposed to different concentrations of doxycycline. The cells were then counted to indicate how many cells died in response to the doxycycline. Higher doxycycline concentrations were associated with reduced cell viability, with this effect being especially exacerbated at higher concentrations. However, with statistical analysis by a Student's t-test, there was no statistical significance to support a trend; there was still a general decreasing trend in cell viability as doxycycline concentration increased. This lack of statistical significance could be due to experimental conditions and the number of trials administered. Despite this, there is still a pattern in the data, especially at higher concentrations, which decreases cell viability significantly in comparison to the control. Through further study of the mechanism in which this process occurs, it is possible to replicate the inhibition of MMPs in future cancer treatments to increase the survival rate of lung cancer.

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