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IN VITRO CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CYTOTOXIC PROFILE OF LIDOCAINE ON A-375 CUTANEOUS MELANOMA CELLS AND HACAT KERATINOCYTES

FELICIA FIAT 1#, BOGDAN NICULESCU 2#, ANDREI ROI 1, MIRCEA RIVIS 3*, ALINA ANTON 4,5, IASMINA MARCOVICI 4,5, ALEXANDRA-DENISA SEMENESCU 4,5, DALIBORCA VLAD 1, CRISTIAN DELCEA 6, ELENA BERNAD 1, GHEORGHE IOVANESCU 1

1Faculty of Medicine, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 2 Eftimie Murgu Square, 300041, Timișoara, Romania
2Department of Sports and Health, “Constantin Brâncuși” University, 210152, Târgu Jiu, Romania
3Faculty of Dental Medicine, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 2 Eftimie Murgu Square, 300041, Timișoara, Romania
4Faculty of Pharmacy, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 2 Eftimie Murgu Square, 300041, Timișoara, Romania
5Research Centre for Pharmaco-Toxicological Evaluations, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 2 Eftimie Murgu Square, 300041, Timișoara, Romania
6Faculty of Psychology, “Tibiscus” University, 300559, Timișoara, Romania

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Cutaneous melanoma (CM), one of the most aggressive types of cancer, presented a continuously increasing incidence in recent decades. Although the majority of CM-diagnosed patients are over 65, a large percentage of females affected by this malignancy are of childbearing age, of which 1% are pregnant when diagnosed. The recent development of advanced therapies (e.g., immunotherapy, targeted therapy) improved the outcomes in CM treatment, increasing the survival rate. However, in the particular case of pregnant women, the existing treatment options might affect the developing foetus, leading to teratogenic effects. Thus, the aim of the present work was to analyse the cytotoxic effect of lidocaine (LID), one of the most widely used local anaesthetics, including during pregnancy, on A-375 cutaneous melanoma cells, to verify in vitro its potential efficiency in CM treatment. Comparatively, the potential safety of LID was evaluated on HaCaT immortalized healthy human keratinocytes. According to the obtained results, LID was found to lack cytotoxicity on HaCaT cells (up to the concentration of 0.2%), while on A-375 cells, LID showed a stronger cytotoxic effect at this particular concentration, leading to changes in cell shape and confluence, as well as apoptosis-specific nuclear characteristics. Further studies should focus on the investigation of LID as a potential therapeutic option in CM treatment, which could be administered in situations where restrictions to classical therapies are raised.