Research Article
Sunitinib Combined with Th1 Cytokines Potentiates Apoptosis in Human Breast Cancer Cells and Suppresses Tumor Growth in a Murine Model of HER-2pos Breast Cancer
Figure 7
Combination therapy with sunitinib and recombinant IFN-γ suppresses tumor growth in an orthotopic murine model of HER-2pos breast cancer. (a) Rat HER-2 (neu)-transgenic TUBO breast carcinoma cells were cultured with increasing concentrations (0-80 μM) of sunitinib in the presence (circles) or absence (triangles) of 50 ng/mL recombinant murine IFN-γ. After 72 hours of treatment, metabolic activity was measured via the Alamar Blue assay (left panel). Right panel displays the statistical analysis of differences in dye metabolism between treatment groups at the optimal drug concentration of 20 μM. (b) TUBO cells () were implanted into the fat pad of the breast of female balb/c mice. Seven days later, therapy commenced consisting of i.p. administration of IFN-γ (10 μg/mouse), sunitinib (1 mg/mouse), both treatments, or mice left untreated (control). Drug and cytokine therapy was supplied in 3 cycles (days 7-10, 16-18, and 24-25). Tumors were measured periodically using calipers to determine growth kinetics (left panel). On day 32, mice were sacrificed, tumors were excised and weighed, and average tumor mass for each treatment group was determined (right panel).
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