In vitro and in vivo antitumor activities of a small and novel synthetic molecule: A potential therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Abstract

300 Background: A small (molecular weight of 275) and novel pharmaceutically silver (I)-tartaric acid complex given the title name aliargentumycine was recently synthesized and the results on its in vitro cytotoxicity and mechanism of action on solid and hematopoietic malignancies were reported. Here the therapeutic potential of aliargentumycine on hepatocellular carcinoma was investigated. Methods: The in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities of aliargentumycine were studied on human HepG-2 xenograft model grown subcutaneously in female immunodeficient mice. Aliargentumycine was administered intratumorally, intravenously and orally twice a week at various concentrations. Results: The IC50 of aliargentumycine was found to be 1.49 ± 0.067 mg/ml, which is comparable to the value of 1.04 ± 0.07 mg/ml for doxorubicin, and almost half the value of 2.87 ± 1.02 mg/ml for sorafenib tosylate. The in vivo results demonstrated excellent statistically significant antitumor activities for the intratumoral, intravenous and oral routes of administration with Pi.t. < 0.00001, Pi.v. < 0.005 and Pp.o. < 0.003, respectively. Some animals showed complete tumor remission (tumor-free), and no tumor re-growth was observed even after treatment was stopped. Nonlinear regression on the data revealed that aliargentumycine results in significant tumor growth delay. All treated animals did not show any commonly observed signs of toxicity, including no body weight loss (p > 0.05). Mantel-Cox statistical tests revealed that there were significant tumor growth delays (p < 0.05) and survival advantages (p < 0.05). Conclusions: These promising findings might have great therapeutic potential on the future clinical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma using aliargentumycine. No significant financial relationships to disclose.