Abstract 2348: Suppression of metastasis of intratesticular inoculation of B16FO melanoma cells by a novel nutrient mixture in male athymic nude mice

Abstract

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. Group A (n=6) was fed a regular mouse chow diet, while the mice in Group B (n=6) were fed the same diet but supplemented with 0.5% NM. Four weeks later the mice were sacrificed and the abdominal cavity was opened. Mice in the control group (Group A) 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 (Group B), there was no evidence of peritoneal metastasis, but the testes were enlarged. 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. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2348. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2348