Debashish Basak (Larkin U):

Repurposing of Sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors for the treatment of prostate cancer

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequent malignancy in men worldwide. We investigated the effects of antidiabetic drugs namely, sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors on PCa. These agents exert their hypoglycemic effects through the inhibition of glucose reabsorption in the kidney and were reported to possess anti-inflammatory effects.

Methods: We employed cell viability assays with different SGLT-2 inhibitors. Briefly, the cells were treated with the drugs for 72 hours. Then MTS reagent was added, and the cells were incubated at 37°C for about 2 hours followed by recording of absorbance in 490 nm.

Results: The cell viability assays with dapagliflozin, empagliflozin, and ertugliflozin did not produce statistically significant results; however, same experiments with canagliflozin demonstrated reduced DU145 and LNCaP cell viability in a dose dependent manner.

Conclusion: Canagliflozin might be a promising candidate for repurposing in PCa. Further experiments are underway to validate the efficacy of this agent.