There is much interest currently in the design of metal compounds as drugs and various metal compounds are already in clinical use. These include gold(I) compounds such as auranofin and the anti-cancer platinum(II) complex, cisplatin. Bis-chelated gold(I) phosphine complexes have also shown great potential as anticancer agents, however, their efficacy has been limited by their high toxicity. In this study, silver(I) thiocyanate compounds linked to four specific ligands, were synthesized and characterized. These silver-phosphine adducts included [AgSCN{P(4-MeC6H4)3}2]2 (1); [AgSCN{P(4-ClC6H4)3}2]2 (2); [AgSCN{P(4-MeOC6H4)3}2]2 (3); [AgSCN(PPh3)2]2 (4). The compounds were found to be toxic to MCF-7 breast cancer cells while the ligands on their own were not toxic. Our findings further indicate that the silver(I) phosphine compounds induce apoptotic cell death in these breast cancer cells. In addition, the compounds were not toxic to nonmalignant fibroblast cells at the IC50 concentrations. This is an indication that the compounds show selectivity towards the cancer cells.

Esophageal cancer is one of the least studied cancers and is found to be prominent in black South African males. It is mainly diagnosed in the late stages, and patients tend to have a low 5-year survival rate of only 10%. Silver is generally used as an antimicrobial agent, with limited reports on anticancer studies. In this study, dimeric silver(I) thiocyanate complexes were used containing a variation of 4-substitued triphenylphosphines, including [AgSCN(PPh(3))(2)](2) (1), [AgSCN{P(4-MeC(6)H(4))(3)}(2)](2) (2), [AgSCN{P(4-FC(6)H(4))(3)}(2)](2) (3) and [AgSCN{P(4-ClC(6)H(4))(3)}(2)](2) (4). All four complexes, with their respective phosphine ligands, PPh(3) (L1), P(4-MeC(6)H(4))(3) (L2), P(4-FC(6)H(4))(3) (L3) and P(4-ClC(6)H(4))(3) (L4), were subjected to in vitro toxicity studies in SNO-esophageal cancer cells, using an alamarBlue(®) assay. Morphological changes, including blebbing and apoptotic body formation, were observed. Phosphatidylserine externalization, a marker of apoptosis, was quantified by flow cytometry. The phosphine ligands L1-L4, on their own, had minimal effect on the malignant while complexes 1-4 resulted in significant cell death. A 10x decreased concentration of these complexes had similar effects than cisplatin, used as the positive control. These complexes show promise as anticancer agents.