Epigallocatechin-3-gallate sensitises multidrug-resistant oral carcinoma xenografts to vincristine sulfate.

Li Chen,Li Li,Guo Zhang,Ye Hu,Gang Liang,Xianwen Guo

doi:10.1002/2211-5463.12905

Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a very aggressive malignancy, and 50% of patients who receive curative treatment die from the disease or related complications within 5 years. Epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate (EGCG) is the most abundant bioactive ingredient of tea polyphenols in green tea and has anticancer properties. Here, we evaluated the preclinical efficacy of EGCG combined with vincristine sulfate (VCR) on the growth, angiogenic activity and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in xenograft nude mice inoculated with KBV200 cells. Compared with VCR alone, the combined use of EGCG and VCR strongly inhibited tumour growth and angiogenesis (P < 0.01). VEGF mRNA and protein levels were lower in the KBV200 xenograft group treated with the combined regime (P < 0.01) than those in the VCR alone group. EGCG sensitises multidrug‐resistant OSCC to VCR, and this may occur through the inhibition of angiogenesis via VEGF down‐regulation.

Highlights

IntroductionOral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a very aggressive malignancy of head and neck cancer and has a dismal outcome, that is, more than 50% of patients who received curative treatment would die from the disease or related complications within 5 years [1,2,3,4,5]
The present study aimed to evaluate the preclinical efficacy of EGCG combined with vincristine sulfate (VCR) in human Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)
Chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane was used to analyse the effect of EGCG on angiogenesis

Summary

Introduction

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a very aggressive malignancy of head and neck cancer and has a dismal outcome, that is, more than 50% of patients who received curative treatment would die from the disease or related complications within 5 years [1,2,3,4,5]. The short-term efficacy of these treatments is confirmed, the long-term prognosis of patients remains poor, which is mainly attributed to OSCC recurrence and development of resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. Abbreviations CAM, chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane; DAB, 3,3-diaminobenzidine; EGCG, epigallocatechin-3-gallate; MDR, multidrug resistance; MVD, microvessel density; OSCC, oral squamous cell carcinoma; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; Pgp, P-glycoprotein; RTV, relative tumour volume; VCR, vincristine sulfate; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor. The administration of chemotherapeutic drugs in this manner is called ‘antiangiogenic’ or ‘metronomic’ chemotherapy [13]

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Conclusion