Fig. 5

Combination of statins and chemotherapy augment the inhibition of proliferation and cytotoxicity. YT-INDY cells were incubated with topotecan, paclitaxel or doxorubicin in the presence or absence of statins for 72 h. Cell growth and cellular cytotoxicity was measured and expressed as a percent of cell control, which was treated with the solvent in which the drug was dissolved. a Addition of atorvastatin, fluvastatin or simvastatin to the chemotherapy drugs enhanced the inhibition of cell growth compared to either drug alone at a statistical significance level of p < 0.05 when compared to the single drug controls. b Addition of statins to paclitaxel-treated YT-INDY demonstrated an enhance inhibition of cellular cytotoxicity, which was statistically significant at the p < 0.05 level for all statin/paclitaxel combinations. A similar effect was not observed with topotecan or doxorubicin. Control levels of YT-INDY cytotoxicity against the target cell line averaged 61.6% ± 3.32 (standard error of the mean) (n = 16 experiments)