Evaluating the Effects of Tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone, an Active Metabolite of Pentachlorophenol, on the Growth of Human Breast Cancer Cells

Figure 4

Cytotoxic effect of TCBQ towards human breast cancer MCF7 (a), Sk-Br-3 (b), and MDA-MB-231 (c) cells. The concentration of TCBQ was 0.16 µM, 0.31 µM, 0.63 µM, 1.25 µM, 2.5 µM, 5 µM, and 10 µM, respectively. Treatment with DMSO was used as negative control. Cytotoxicity was increased upon TCBQ treatment against both MCF7 and Sk-Br-3 cells. The increase of cytotoxicity (%) compared to control was statistically significant at TCBQ concentration of 0.16 µM, 0.63 µM, 1.25 µM, 2.5 µM, and 5 µM towards the MCF7 cells and at TCBQ concentration of 0.16 µM, 0.31 µM, 0.63 µM, 1.25 µM, 2.5 µM, and 5 µM towards the Sk-Br-3 cells, respectively. However, cytotoxicity was decreased upon TCBQ treatment towards the MDA-MB-231 cells. The decrease of cytotoxicity (%) compared to control was statistically significant at TCBQ concentration of 0.31 µM, 0.63 µM, 1.25 µM, 2.5 µM, 5 µM, and 10 µM. Statistical analysis was performed by one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s comparison as posthoc analysis.

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