In-Vitro Antiproliferative Analysis of Metformin Hydrochloride on Androgen-Sensitive, LNCAP and Androgen-Insensitive, PC-3 Human Prostate Cancer Cell Lines

Prostate cancer is one of the diseases worldwide that causes cancer-related deaths in men. Metformin is an antidiabetic drug that has been in use for over two decades for the treatment of Type II Diabetes mellitus (DM2). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anti-proliferative property of metformin hydrochloride on androgen-sensitive, LNCAP and androgen-insensitive, PC-3 human prostate cancer cell lines at different concentrations (μM and mM) using 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Metformin hydrochloride displayed a stronger cytotoxicity on the androgen-insensitive PC-3 than on the androgen-sensitive human prostate cancer cell lines. For both cell lines, the antiproliferative activity of metformin hydrochloride was best displayed at 0.1 mM concentration with average cell death percentage of 60% after 120-hour exposure.