The Rationality of Implementation of Dimethyl Sulfoxide as Differentiation-inducing Agent in Cancer Therapy

One of the major hallmarks of many cancer cells is dedifferentiated cells (immature cells) with little or no resemblance to normal cells. Besides the poor differentiation, malignant cells also have important features such as aggressiveness and resistance to different therapeutics. Differentiation potentiators hold great promise for cancer treatment. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a well-characterized pharmaceutical solvent. It is used as a component of numerous cancer therapeutic approaches, including cancer treatment and several approved cancer immune therapeutics such as Car-T cell therapy and the FDA-approved drug Mekinist (trametinib DMSO) for melanoma treatment. It is also biologically recognized as a pharmaceutical solvent and cryoprotectant. In the current literature, there are no mentions of DMSO’s possible ability to potentiate therapeutic activity as a component of these cancer treatments. This review aimed to summarize scientific evidence and substantiate the concept that DMSO can contribute positively to the overall efficacy of cancer treatment as an adjuvant that is safe, inexpensive, and an effective differentiation-inducing therapeutic agent.