Effect of Hypoxia on the Doxorubicin Sensitivity of Human MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

Intrinsic or acquired resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs is one of the major obstacles to effective cancer treatment. Hypoxia is widespread in solid tumors as a consequence of decreased blood flow in the tumor-derived neovasculature. The recent finding of a link between hypoxia and chemoresistance prompted us to investigate whether hypoxia induces doxorubicin resistance in human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Low oxygen concentration decreased the doxorubicin sensitivity in MCF-7 cells. The expression of p-glycoprotein, a major MDR-related transporter, and those of apoptosis-related proteins (anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, Bcl-XL and pro-apoptotic Bax) were not altered by hypoxia in MCF-7 cells. Intracellular uptake of doxorubicin was significantly decreased under hypoxic conditions. Decreased cellular uptake of doxorubicin under hypoxia may contribute to causing doxorubicin resistance in these cells. The use of agents that can modulate the doxorubicin uptake for adjuvant therapy may contribute to improving the therapeutic efficacy of doxorubicin in breast cancer patients.