Extract of Holothuria scabra exhibits synergistic effect with chemotherapeutic agents against breast cancer in vitro

Context: Sea cucumbers have been identified as highly potential contenders in the fight against breast cancer. Aims: To investigate the potential of Holothuria scabra extract for anticancer against breast cancer cells in vitro by investigating its synergistic effects when Methods: The Combenefit software was employed to assess the human breast cancer cell line T47D viability towards a synergistic combination of H. scabra extract and chemotherapeutic medications (cisplatin, doxorubicin, and neratinib). The investigation encompassed assessing the combination by utilizing a cell viability experiment employing a water-soluble tetrazolium-1 reagent. Subsequently, the selective cytotoxic effect was assessed by subjecting the highest Results: The synergistic model was evaluated by comparing interaction analysis through Loewe, Bliss, and Highest Single Agent (HSA) models. Combinations of H. scabra and Cisplatin showed synergistic activity with similar T47D cell viability values. However, the Loewe synergistic model had a higher T47D cell viability value, while the combination of H. scabra and neratinib had a higher T47D cell viability value. Moreover, co-administration of H. scabra and doxorubicin demonstrated notable efficacy in inhibiting the proliferation of T47D cells while exhibiting no cytotoxic effects on TIG-1-20 cells. Conclusions: Concurrent administration of H. scabra extract and doxorubicin exhibits promising synergistic properties in inhibiting the proliferation of T47D breast cancer cells while demonstrating no toxicity towards TIG-1-20 normal cells.