Phenethyl isothiocyanate (Synonyms: NSC 87868, PEITC)

Phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) is an isothiocyanate that has been found in cruciferous vegetables and has anticancer activity.¹ It inhibits the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPX), reduces cellular glutathione (GSH) levels, and induces the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in T72 ovarian epithelial cells expressing H-Ras^V12 when used at a concentration of 10 µM.² PEITC (10 µM) induces cell cycle arrest at the G₂/M phase and apoptosis in PL45, MIA PaCa-2, and BxPC-3 pancreatic cancer cells.³ It decreases the number of tumor cells expressing Ki-67 or proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), markers of cell proliferation, and reduces tumor growth in a MIA PaCa-2 mouse xenograft model.

1.Gupta, P., Wright, S.E., Kim, S.-H., et al.Phenethyl isothiocyanate: A comprehensive review of anti-cancer mechanismsBiochim. Biophys. Acta1846(2)405-424(2014) 2.Trachootham, D., Zhou, Y., Zhang, H., et al.Selective killing of oncogenically transformed cells through a ROS-mediated mechanism by beta-phenylethyl isothiocyanateCancer Cell10(3)241-252(2006) 3.Stan, S.D., Singh, S.V., Whitcomb, D.C., et al.Phenethyl isothiocyanate inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in a MIAPaca2 xenograft animal modelNutr. Cancer66(4)747-755(2014)