Suppression of Metastasis of Intratesticular Inoculation of B16FO Melanoma Cells by A Novel Nutrient Mixture in Male Athymic Nude Mice

M.W. Roomi, N.W. Roomi, M. Rath and A. Niedzwiecki
Dr. Rath Research Institute, Oncology Division, 1260 Memorex Drive, Santa Clara, CA

Presented at: 
103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, Chicago, IL, March 31 - April 4, 2012.

Published in: 
Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the AACR, Vol 53, Abstract #2348, page 567.

 

Abstract

Testicular cancer (TC) is rare, but still represents one of the most common diseases in young men between the ages of 20-45. However, men of any age can develop this disease. The incidence in Caucasians is greater than in African Americans. Risk factors include undescended testis, Klinefelter syndrome, and HIV positive patients. If left untreated, it is almost certainly fatal. Metastasis is the major cause of cancer death. The most common place for TC to spread in the body is to the lung. In this investigation, we studied the effect of a novel nutrient mixture (NM) containing ascorbic acid, amino acids and green tea extract that has been shown to exhibit anti-cancer activity, on inhibition of B16FO melanoma cells inoculated intratesticularly. Male athymic mice (n=12), 10-12 weeks of age, were inoculated with half a million B16FO melanoma cells in 100 µL of PBS into the right testis; the left testis was left untreated. After inoculation, the mice were randomly divided into two groups. The Control group (n=6) was fed a regular mouse chow diet, while the mice in NM group (n=6) were fed the same diet supplemented with 1% NM. Four weeks later the mice were sacrificed and the abdominal cavity was opened. All mice in the Control group exhibited extensive metastasis in the peritoneal cavity, which was totally masked by B16FO melanoma cells. The testis was severely enlarged and replaced by invading malignant melanoma cells. The remaining testicular tissue was represented by necrotic seminiferous tubules. The capsular region of the testis was severely infiltrated with a population of mixed cells. In contrast, in the NM fed group there was no evidence of peritoneal metastasis in 50% of the mice and mild metastasis in the remaining mice. The testes were less enlarged than in the Control group. Seminiferous tubules in the area of invasion showed evidence of degeneration. In all groups, there was no metastasis to liver, kidney and spleen. However, severe lung metastasis was observed in the control group (2 out of 6) and mild in the test group (2 out of 6). In conclusion, these results suggest that NM has potential to suppress tumor metastasis.

Comment

Though testicular cancer is rare, if it metastasizes, the disease is almost always fatal. We studied the effect of a novel nutrient mixture (NM) containing ascorbic acid, amino acids and green tea extract on inhibition of melanoma growth and metastasis from intratesticular injection of 5x105 B16FO melanoma cells in male athymic nude mice. After inoculation, the mice were randomly divided into two groups ( 6 mice in each group) that were either fed a regular mouse chow diet (Control group) or a diet supplemented with 1% NM (NM group). Four weeks later the mice were sacrificed and the abdominal cavity was opened. Mice in the Control group all exhibited extensive metastasis in the peritoneal cavity and severely enlarged testes, exhibiting malignant melanoma cells and necrotic seminiferous tubules. The capsular region of the testis was severely infiltrated with a population of mixed cells. In contrast, in the NM group there was no evidence of peritoneal metastasis in 50% of the mice and mild metastasis in the remaining mice. Testes were enlarged, but less so than in the Control group and seminiferous tubules in the area of invasion showed evidence of degeneration. In all groups, there was no metastasis to liver, kidney and spleen. However, severe lung metastasis was observed in the Control group (2 out of 6) and mild in the NM group (2 out of 6). These results are significant as they indicate that NM has potential to suppress tumor metastasis.


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