Cytotoxicity of Phytocompounds Cannabigerol (CBG) and Withaferin A to SKOV3 Ovarian Cancer Cells

Ovarian cancer affects 239,000 women worldwide each year. One in 75 women will develop this condition, and it has a one in 100 lethality rate (Reid et al., Cancer Biol Med, 14:9-32, 2017). Ovarian cancer, as well as many other cancers, are most often treated with chemotherapy and radiation. Because of the nonspecific targets of these treatments, many negative side effects often result, including hair loss, nausea and vomiting, and even increase in the progression of cancer. Previous studies with plant extracts such as cannabinoids and withaferin A have shown cytotoxic effects on many types cancer cells. Therefore, I hypothesized that cannabigerol (CBG) and withaferin A would also show cytotoxicity toward SKOV3 cancer cells. I further hypothesized that both compounds would inhibit cell migration and increase acidification of the medium, which are characteristic of many cancer cells. Both CBG and withaferin A independently inhibited cell proliferation, CBG decreased the pH of the conditioned medium and increased the levels of reactive oxygen species present in the cell environment, and the combined treatment inhibited cell migration in a scratch-wound assay. These preliminary results suggest the potential of these compounds as a possible approach to treat ovarian cancer. However, further in vivo studies are required to characterize the effects of these compounds on ovarian tumors.