Effect of heparin and its derivatives on the progression of tumor growth in mouse Lewis lung carcinoma model.

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e13115 Background: Preclinical evidence suggests that heparins have an effect on tumor progression independent of their anticoagulant activity. Heparins have also been shown to exhibit interactions with growth factors and other cellular receptors. This study was designed to investigate whether heparin and its derivatives are able to inhibit tumor growth. Methods: Female C57BL/6 mice were obtained at 6-8 weeks of age and were implanted with 5X105 LN7 tumor cells by dorsal subcutaneous injection of in the upper back. When tumors were first palpable, after 7-10 days of growth, mice were treated with subcutaneous injections of heparin, a low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), namely enoxaparin, an ultra LMWH, semuloparin or saline, daily for two weeks in a dose range of 1.0 – 0.25 mg/kg. After the treatment period, animals were sacrificed and the spleens and tumors were removed and their weight, volume, spleen weight and size were measured. Results: At the 1.0 and 0.5 mg/kg dosages, both enoxaparin (p<0.01) and semuloparin (p<0.01) showed a decrease in tumor volume compared to the saline control animals. At the 1.0 mg/kg dosage, the mortality was high in the heparin group due to bleeding. At 0.5 mg/kg heparin was not different from the saline control. In addition, at a dosage of 0.25 mg/kg, only semuloparin showed a difference compared to the saline control (p<0.01). Similar results were observed for the tumor weight. There were no significant differences noted in spleen weight or spleen size among these agents. The mortality rates between the mice treated with enoxaparin and semuloparin were comparable. Conclusions: These studies suggest that heparin and its derivatives are capable of inhibiting tumor growth in a dose dependent manner. Enoxaparin and semuloparin are more effective at reducing tumor growth compared to heparin. Clinical studies have shown that semuloparin is safe and effective for the prevention of venous thromboembolism in cancer patients and compares favorably to enoxaparin in terms of antithrombotic effect and safety profile. Therefore, semuloparin may be a better alternate for the prevention of cancer associated thrombosis.