Effects of indomethacin on the growth and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To study the effects of indomethacin on proliferation and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line MHCC97L with metastatic potential and the effect of indomethacin on the growth and metastasis of HCC. Methods (1) In vitro; Proliferation, Transwell invasion assay, cell motility assay, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) protein activity were evaluated after cells were treated with 0. 2 mmol/L indomethacin. (2)In vivo: Mice bearing xenografts in the liver were randomly divided into control and indomethacin groups. At the end of sixth week, the mice were killed and tumor volume, inhibitory rate, immunohistochemistry assay (IHA) and metastasis were evaluated. Results (1)In vitro; 0. 2 mmol/L indomethacin could inhibit the proliferation of MHCC97L cells markedly (P ＜0. 01). The average amount of invading cells per field in cell invasion assay and motility assay was 2. 2 ± 1. 3 and 4.4 ± 1. 1 respectively in indomethacin group, significantly less than in control group ( 11. 4 ± 1. 9 and 12. 8 ± 1. 8 respectively, P ＜0. 01). The expression of VEGF and MMP-2 in cells treated with indomethacin was significantly lower than in control group (P ＜0. 01). (2)In vivo; Tumor volume, incidence and number of lung metastases in control and indomethacin groups were (1700 ±422) mm3 and (1170 ± 585) mm3 (P ＜ 0. 05), 75% and 50% ( P ＞ 0.05), 2. 92 ± 2. 07 and 1.33 ±1.56 (P＜0. 05) , respectively. Inhibition rate in indomethacin group was 31.2%. IHA showed that the expression of VEGF, MMP-2, and cyclooxygenase-2 ( COX-2) was down-regulated in indomethacin group (P ＜0.01). Conclusion Indomethacin could inhibit the growth and metastasis of HCC, which was in part mediated by down-regulation of VEGF and MMP-2. Key words: Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Indomethacin; Growth; Metastasis