Department of Interventional Radiology, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Road, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Clin Transl Oncol. 2018 May;20(5):639-646. doi: 10.1007/s12094-017-1761-8. Epub 2017 Oct 11.
Transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) has been widely used in treating non-curative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it is noticed that TAE may cause invasion of some cancer cells into circulation, resulting in distal metastasis and poor therapeutic outcome. Here, we aimed to reduce the side effects of TAE using the inhibitors for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).
Transient hepatic artery ligation (HAL) was used as a mouse model for TAE. EGFR inhibitors were applied. Tumor size, presence of tumor cells in circulation, distal tumor formation, and activation of genes associated with tumor cell invasion and metastasis were analyzed.
Inhibitors for EGFR significantly reduced the size of primary tumor, presence of tumor cells in circulation, and distal tumor formation after HAL. Further studies showed that EGFR inhibition suppressed several genes associated with tumor cell invasion and metastasis, such as vascular endothelial growth factor-A, stromal cell-derived factor 1, and Slug.
EGFR inhibitor application may reduce circulating cancer cells during TAE and thus improve the therapy for advanced HCC.
经导管动脉栓塞术（TAE）已广泛用于治疗不可治愈的肝细胞癌（HCC）。然而，有研究注意到 TAE 可能导致部分癌细胞侵入循环系统，引发远处转移和治疗效果不佳。在此，我们旨在通过表皮生长因子受体（EGFR）抑制剂来减少 TAE 的副作用。
短暂性肝动脉结扎（HAL）被用作 TAE 的小鼠模型。应用 EGFR 抑制剂。分析肿瘤大小、循环中肿瘤细胞的存在、远端肿瘤形成以及与肿瘤细胞侵袭和转移相关的基因的激活情况。
EGFR 抑制剂显著降低了 HAL 后原发性肿瘤的大小、循环中肿瘤细胞的存在和远端肿瘤的形成。进一步的研究表明，EGFR 抑制抑制了与肿瘤细胞侵袭和转移相关的几个基因，如血管内皮生长因子-A、基质细胞衍生因子 1 和 Slug。
在 TAE 期间应用 EGFR 抑制剂可能会减少循环中的癌细胞，从而改善晚期 HCC 的治疗效果。
