A murine vascular endothelial growth factor antibody inhibits in vivo growth of human Caki-i renal adenocarcinoma
Dagnaes-Hansen, F.; Rasmussen, L.M.; Tilton, R.; Denner, L.; Flyvbjerg, A.
Anticancer Research 23(2b): 1625-1630
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 0250-7005 PMID: 12820432 Document Number: 555365
A number of studies have provided indirect evidence that angiogenesis is involved in tumour growth and metastasis formation of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Nude mice bearing xenografts of human Caki-I RCC were treated i.p. for 3 weeks with a murine monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF (VEGF-ab). Tumour growth and mRNA expression of human and murine VEGF and murine VE-Cadherin in the tumours were measured. After 3 weeks of therapy, the tumour volume in the control nude mice was 548 +/- 98 mm3 compared to the tumours in the nude mice treated with VEGF-ab (122 +/- 24 mm3, p < 0.01). Treatment with VEGF-ab significantly reduced mRNA expression of murine VEGF-120 and murine VE-Cadherin (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). The mRNA expression of human VEGF (hVEGF165, hVEGF189) and murine VEGF (mVEGF164) was unchanged due to antibody treatment. The mean percentage of apoptotic cells in tumours harvested from antibody-treated animals was significantly lower than in tumours from the control-treated animals (p < 0.02). These findings demonstrate for the first time that VEGF-ab significantly inhibit the growth of Caki-1 RCC in vivo.