Combination of sasa quelpaertensis nakai leaf extract and cisplatin suppresses the cancer stemness and invasion of human lung cancer cells

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and most chemotherapeutic drugs have limited success in treating this disease. Furthermore, some drugs show undesirable side effects due to the enrichment of cancer stem cells (CSCs) that are present, leading to resistance to conventional chemotherapy and tumor relapse. CSCs possess self-renewal characteristics, aggressive tumor initiating activity, and ability to facilitate tumor metastasis. Therefore, development of nontoxic agents that can potentiate chemotherapy and eliminate CSCs would be highly desirable. In the present study, we investigated whether Sasa quelpaertensis leaf extracts (SQE) and cisplatin (CIS), individually or in combination, would exert anti-CSC and antimetastatic effect in H1299 and A549 human lung cancer cells. Following these treatments, cell growth, phosphorylation of phosphoinositide-3 kinase, and activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin were inhibited. Decreased serial sphere formation, clonogenicity, and expression of major stem cell markers, such as CD44 and SOX-2, in CD44+ cancer stem cells were also observed. In addition, inhibition of cell migration and invasion in both cell lines as well as inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase-2 activity and expression were detected. Importantly, the anticancer stemness and antimetastasis effects in each of these assays were greater for the combined treatment with SQE and CIS than with each treatment individually. In conclusion, the data suggest that SQE alone, or in combination with CIS, represents a promising therapeutic strategy for eliminating cancer stemness and cell invasion potential of CSCs, thereby treating and preventing metastatic lung cancer cells.