Effect of artemisinin on metastatic tumor growth and lymphangiogenesis in mice bearing Lewis lung carcinoma

    GUO Yan1£¬ WANG Jun1£¬ZHANG Biª²Cheng1£¬ CHEN Zhengª²Tang1£¬ GAO Jianª²Fei2£¬ ZHAO Yong2

    1Cancer Institute of PLA, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China, 2Department of Oncology, Wuhan General Hospital, Guangzhou Military Area Command, Wuhan 430070, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM£º To explore the effect of antimalarial artemisinin on Lewis lung carcimoma (LLC) growth and tumor lymphangiogenesis. METHODS£º The models of LLC in C57BL/6 mice were established via subcutaneous injection of mouse LLC cells. After mice were orally administered with artemisinin at 50 mg/kg body weight, once 2 d for 2 weeks, tumors were measured with calipers twice weekly. Mice were sacrificed 30 d following tumor cell injection, and Lewis tumors and lungs were harvested and weighted. Lewis tumors and lungs were processed for immunohistochemical analysis for lymphangiogenesis using VEGFRª²3 and LYVEª²1 staining or for micrometastasis using HE staining. Lymphatic microvessel density (LMVD) was evaluated by LYVEª²1 positive lymphatic vessel count. Furthermore, mice were monitored for survival studies. RESULTS£º LMVD, wet weight of lungs and number of lung metastasis in artemisininª²treated group were significantly lower as compared with control group (P<0.05). However there was not statistically significant difference in tumor growth between artemisininª²treated mice and control mice (P>0.05). In addition, artemisininª²treated mice lived significantly longer than the control mice did (P<0.01). CONCLUSION£º Antimalarial artemisinin effectively inhibits the lymphangiogenesis and lung metastasis, and enhances the survival of mice bearing LLC. ......