Synergistic effects of thalidomide and cisplatin are mediated via the PI3K/AKT and JAK1/STAT3 signaling pathways in cervical cancer.

Thalidomide (THD) has been found to synergize with cisplatin (DDP) in certain types of cancers; however, their combined use in the treatment of cervical cancer has not been reported to date, at least to the best of our knowledge. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the synergistic effects of THD and DDP and determine their regulatory effects on the phosphoinositide 3‑kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) and Janus kinase 1 (JAK1)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathways in cervical cancer. For this purpose, 0‑160 µM THD and 0‑64 µM DDP monotherapy or in combination were used to treat the HeLa and SiHa cervical cancer cell lines.