BE-65 The Effects of Atorvastatin on Viability and Mitochondrial Activity on Human Colorectal Cancer Cells

Colorectal cancer is the 3rd most common cancer worldwide, affecting both men and women. While undergoing cancer treatments, many patients take medications at the same time for a variety of reasons. Statins, which can be included with the type of medications that are taken during chemotherapy, are a specific type of drug prescribed to patients with abnormal lipid or cholesterol levels. In this study, Atorvastatin (Lipitor), a specific type of statin prescribed to patients with high vulnerability to heart attacks, strokes, and high cholesterol levels, is utilized and tested on one human colorectal cancer cell line, HCT116, which was isolated from a male patient suffering from colon cancer. The effects of exposure to low and high doses of Atorvastatin on cell viability were observed to determine if Atorvastatin could be a potential chemotherapeutic agent in cancer treatment. A negative control of DMSO (a solvent used as a cryoprotectant of cell cultures) and a positive control of Doxorubicin (a well known chemotherapeutic drug) were also introduced to the cell line, where cell growth was observed. The HCT116 cell line was divided into four different groups. The groups were treated for two weeks with different diluted concentrations of 10 µM of Atorvastatin, 40 µM of Atorvastatin, 40 nM of DMSO, or 40 nM of Doxorubicin (DOXO). After the conclusion of the two-week treatment period, a Trypan Blue Exclusion assay was performed to observe the number and ratio of dead cells to viable cells. Afterwards, the MTS assay was performed to observe the viability of each cell line, in which the HCT116 cell lines were individually plated in 96-well plates for a 48-hour incubation period, and then absorbance readings at 450 nm were measured on an ELISA plate reader at 30-minute intervals over a period of two hours.