Open AccessAntitumor effect of arsenic trioxide in murine xenograft model
Author(s) -
Kito Mariko,
Matsumoto Kenji,
Wada Naoko,
Sera Kouichiro,
Futatsugawa Shoji,
Naoe Tomoki,
Nozawa Yoshinori,
Akao Yukihiro
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
cancer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.035
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1349-7006
pISSN - 1347-9032
DOI - 10.1111/j.1349-7006.2003.tb01393.x
Subject(s) - arsenic trioxide , apoptosis , cancer research , acute promyelocytic leukemia , tunel assay , medicine , arsenic , hepatocellular carcinoma , pathology , cell culture , chemistry , biology , biochemistry , retinoic acid , organic chemistry , genetics
Arsenic trioxide, As 2 O 3 (ATO), has been established to be an effective agent for treating acute promyelocytic leukemia, but its effect on solid tumors has not been fully explored. In the present study in a murine xenograft system, we found that ATO significantly inhibited tumor growth of the inoculated human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HuH7 when administered either intravenously or intratumorally. Pathological examination revealed that ATO induced extensive cell death in the tumor. Some of the dead cells in intratumorally ATO‐treated mice showed characteristic features of apoptosis, such as nuclear condensation and fragmentation, and were TUNEL‐positive. The measurement of arsenic by using particle induced X‐ray emission revealed that arsenic was accumulated more in the tumor than in brain, kidney or liver after the intravenous injection of ATO, which is consistent with the hemorrhagic cell death observed in ATO‐treated tumor tissues. Thus, ATO appears to have potential for the treatment of solid tumors, as well as hematopoietic malignancies.