The cytotoxic effect of chemotherapeutic drugs is enhanced by combination with a glucose transporter inhibitor.

<p>(A) Treatment of MG63 cells with phloretin (100 µM), daunomycin (1 µM), 5-Fu (10 µM), etoposide 10 µM, or methotrexate (10 µM) alone for 24 h induced a low level of cell death. However, the combination of phloretin with chemotherapeutic drugs (daunomycin, 5-Fu, etoposide, and methotrexate) markedly increased cell death in three osteosarcoma cell lines: MG63, U-2OS, and 143B. Representative photographs are shown in panel B. Data are presented as the mean ± S.E.M. (n = 4). *p≤0.05, compared with the control (con), #p≤0.05, compared with the respective treatment of the chemotherapeutic drug alone.