Study on the Antitumor Mechanism of Norcantharidin in Nude Mice Orthotopically Xenografted with Capan-2 Pancreatic Tumor Cells

摘要

To investigate the antitumor mechanism of norcantharidin in nude mice orthotopically xenografted with Capan-2 pancreatic cancer cells, pancreatic cancer cells (Capan-2) were injected into the pancreatic tail capsule of nude mice to establish animal models. 40 nude mice with pancreatic cancer xenograft (Capan-2 cells) were randomized into control group (NS, n = 20) and test group (NCTD, n = 20). Mice in control group were intraperitoneally injected with 0.4 mL of 0.9% normal saline (once every 3 days, 7 doses in total); mice in test group were intraperitoneally injected with NCTD 20 mg/kg (once every 3 days, 7 doses in total). At the 7th day after the last administration, the tumor blood supplies were examined. All nude mice were killed and their tumor tissues were retained to compare the growth of orthotopic pancreatic cancer. Immunohistochemical method was used to analyze the expression levels of VEGF, bFGF, VE-Cd, HIF-1 alpha and other proangiogenic factors. Compared with the that of control group, the growth status of nude mice treated with NCTD was generally not affected, but the tumor growth was restricted, MVD significantly decreased, expression levels of VEGF, bFGF, VE-Cd and HIF-1 a decreased, and the differences were statistically significant (P 0.05). Norcantharidin can significantly inhibit the angiogenesis of pancreatic cancer, and its antitumor mechanism is related to the down-regulation of expression levels of VEGF, bFGF, VE-Cd, HIF-1 alpha and other proangiogenic factors.