Researchers compared curcumin, berberine, biochanin A, cucurbitacin E and CAPE in fibrosarcoma cells and healthy muscle cells, focusing in part on the NF-κB pathway, which regulates inflammation, cell survival, metabolism and cellular aging. All five compounds disrupted mitochondrial function and reduced the cells’ ability to produce energy.
All five compounds also triggered cellular senescence, a state in which cells remain alive but can no longer divide.
Curcumin and CAPE showed the greatest selectivity in cell-viability tests. Curcumin combined strong effects on fibrosarcoma cells with a comparatively favorable safety profile, while berberine was also well tolerated. Berberine, cucurbitacin E and CAPE increased PINK1/PARKIN-dependent mitophagy in fibrosarcoma cells, alongside the sharp ATP decline.
Tests in greater wax moth larvae produced a different safety ranking: curcumin and berberine were best tolerated, CAPE and cucurbitacin E were linked to higher mortality, and biochanin A was the most toxic. The experiments used cell lines and an invertebrate toxicity model, so they do not establish that any of the compounds can treat sarcomas. Sarcomas make up less than 1% of adult cancers but include more than 100 subtypes, which often require different treatment approaches.