Anticancer treatment methods involving analogs and derivatives of 3-(2-substituted-ethyl) indole compounds
Methods for inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and killing cancer cells are disclosed. Such methods comprise treating cancer cells with an indole compound having the structure of formula (I): wherein R is defined herein.
1. A method of inhibiting cancer cell proliferation, comprising treating cancer cells with 3-(2-bromoethyl) indole or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein the treated cancer cells are inhibited from proliferation as compared to non-treated cancer cells; and wherein the cancer cells are colon cancer cells.
2. A method of killing colon cancer cells, comprising:
treating the colon cancer cells with a combination of TNFα and 3-(2-bromoethyl) indole.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the 3-(2-bromoethyl) indole is administered at a concentration of at least 0.8 uM.
4. A method of killing colon cancer cells comprising:
treating the colon cancer cells with a combination of one or more chemotherapeutic drugs and 3-(2-bromoethyl) indole.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more chemotherapeutic drugs is camptothecin or a camptothecin-analog.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the camptothecin-analog is chosen from the group consisting of topotecan and irinotecan.
7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the cancer cells are treated firstly with the one or more chemotherapeutic drugs, and after a predetermined waiting period, treated secondly with 3-(2-bromoethyl) indole.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the predetermined waiting period is at least 24 hours.
9. A method of reducing NF-kB activation in colon cancer cells, comprising treating colon cancer cells with 3-(2-bromoethyl) indole.