(-)-Oleocanthal rapidly and selectively induces cancer cell death via lysosomal membrane permeabilization.

(-)-Oleocanthal (OC), a phenolic compound present in extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), has been implicated in the health benefits associated with diets rich in EVOO. We investigated the effect of OC on human cancer cell lines in culture and found that OC induced cell death in all cancer cells examined as rapidly as 30 minutes after treatment in the absence of serum. OC treatment of non-transformed cells suppressed their proliferation but did not cause cell death.

Garcinia benzophenones inhibit the growth of human colon cancer cells and synergize with sulindac sulfide and turmeric.

Previous studies indicate that extracts and purified components from Garcinia species inhibit the growth of human colon cancer cells. Garcinia benzophenones activate the expression of genes in the endoplasmic reticulum and cellular energy stress (mTOR) pathways. This study examines the growth inhibitory and synergistic effects of Garcinia benzophenones, alone or combined with chemopreventive agents, on human colon cancer cells.

Suppression of AKT phosphorylation restores rapamycin-based synthetic lethality in SMAD4-defective pancreatic cancer cells.

mTOR has been implicated in survival signals for many human cancers. Rapamycin and TGF-β synergistically induce G1 cell-cycle arrest in several cell lines with intact TGF-β signaling pathway, which protects cells from the apoptotic effects of rapamycin during S-phase of the cell cycle. Thus, rapamycin is cytostatic in the presence of serum/TGF-β and cytotoxic in the absence of serum.