Enhanced susceptibility to apoptosis and growth arrest of human breast carcinoma cells treated with silica nanoparticles loaded with monohydroxy flavone compounds.

The treatment of drug-resistant cancer is a clinical challenge, hence screening for novel anticancer drugs is critically important. In this study, we investigated the anti-tumor potential of three plant-derived flavone compounds: 3-hydroxy flavone (3-HF), 6-hydroxy flavone (6-HF), and 7-hydroxy flavone (7-HF), either alone or combined with silica nanoparticles (3-HF + NP, 6-HF + NP, and 7-HF + NP), on the human breast carcinoma cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7, as well as on non-tumorigenic normal breast epithelial cells (MCF-10). The IC