Ricerc@Sapienza

Essential oils have been shown to possess cancer cell targeting activity and are able to increase the efficacy of commonly used chemotherapy drugs including paclitaxel and docetaxel, having also shown proimmune functions when administered to cancer patients. Nevertheless, few data are available concerning the potential of essential oils to improve the efficacy of targeted agents to date. Recent evidence has been provided that terpinen-4-ol is able to restore the sensitivity of KRAS mutant colorectal cancer cells to EGFR inhibitor cetuximab, although the mechanism behind this phenomenon has not been clarified yet. The first aim of the present study is to shed light on the mechanism of action leading the terpinen-4-ol to restore the sensitivity of KRAS mutant colorectal cancer to cetuximab. The second is to investigate the potential use of Melaleuca alternifolia, Origanum majorana and Myristica fragrans essential oils, known to be rich in terpinen-4-ol, as sensitizers of targeted therapy in KRAS mutant colon cancer cell lines. This proposal might provide a rationale to improve the efficacy of EGFR-targeted therapy in KRAS-mutant tumors and to optimize the use of natural compounds in combination therapy.