Inhibition effects of Yuxiao San combined with cisplatin on transplanted tumor growths via upregulation of nm‑23 and downregulation of K‑ras in Lewis lung cancer mice

Abstract

Traditional Chinese medicine applied to cancer therapy has a long history. This study aimed to investigate the effect and underlying mechanism of the traditional Chinese medicine, Yuxiao San, in combination with cisplatin, on Lewis lung cancer mice. Lewis lung cancer mouse models were were established in mice, and were randomly divided into model (normal saline + egg white), cisplatin (cisplatin injection + egg white), traditional Chinese medicine (Yuxiao San + egg white) and combined medication (Yuxiao San + cisplatin injection + egg white) groups. The weight and tumor size of mice was measured every 3 days, and the number of lung surface metastasis nodules were calculated after 14 days. Nucleoside diphosphate kinase (nm-23) and K-ras expression levels in tumor tissues were determined by immunohistochemical methods and reverse transcriptionquantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results suggested that compared with the model group, cisplatin, traditional Chinese medicine and combined medication groups significantly inhibited growth of transplanted tumors, reduced the number of lung metastasis nodules, increased the inhibition rate of lung metastasis (P<0.05 or P<0.01), significantly increased tumor suppressor gene nm-23 expression and significantly downregulated oncogene K-ras expression. Among all groups, the effect of the combined medication group for inhibiting tumor growth was most favorable (P<0.01). Compared with the cisplatin group, nm-23 expression in the traditional Chinese medicine group and the combined medication group was significantly increased, and K-ras expression in the traditional Chinese medicine and combined medication groups was significantly reduced (P<0.01). To conclude, Yuxiao San and cisplatin injection effectively inhibited growth of the transplanted tumor. The underlying mechanism may be associate with nm-23 upregulation and K-ras downregulation. Therefore, the Yuxiao San and cisplatin injection may become a potential therapeutic strategy for tumor treatment.