Effectiveness of indomethacin as an antitumor agent in Colon 26-bearing conventional and nude mice, and telomerase activity in the tumors.

Abstract

The antitumor effect of indomethacin on Colon 26 tumor was investigated in conventional (CDF1) and nude mice (BALB/c nu/nu), and the telomerase activity in the tumor tissues treated with indomethacin was monitored. Growth of Colon 26 tumor was significantly suppressed with indomethacin treatment compared to the controls both in conventional and nude mice. And telomerase activity in the tumor tissues noticeably declined in contrast to normal somatic tissues (testis, liver and colon), which were not affected by indomethacin treatment. We also showed that indomethacin can suppress tumor growth in association with a preferential decrease in telomerase activity in tumor tissues both in conventional and nude mice to the same extent. This study suggests a method for investigating the mechanism of tumor suppression by indomethacin, and suggests that indomethacin might be useful as a novel agent for human cancer therapy.