Synergy of 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (DAC) and paclitaxel in both androgen-dependent and -independent prostate cancer cell lines

To determine the synergy of 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (DAC) and paclitaxel (PTX) against prostate carcinoma (PC) cells by isobolographic analysis. We demonstrated that DAC could significantly increase the susceptibility of PC cells to PTX, and confirmed the synergy of DAC and PTX. DAC enhanced the PTX induced up-regulation of caspase activity and antiproliferative effect, resulting in an increase of cells in subG1 and G2/M phases. In addition, the synergy was observed in both androgen-dependent and -independent PC cell lines. It suggested that combination chemotherapy with DAC and PTX might be a new strategy to improve the clinical response rate of PC.