Efficacy and preliminary dose studies of ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy with lauromacrogol for the treatment of implanted hepatic tumors in rabbits

BACKGROUND: To study the curative effect of sclerotherapy with lauromacrogol on a rabbit VX2 implanted liver tumor model, the effect of ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy with different doses of lauromacrogol in the treatment of the rabbit VX2 implanted liver tumor model and the degree of damage to the surrounding liver tissue was compared and observed. The relationship between the sclerosing effect and drug dose of lauromacrogol in the treatment of liver cancer is preliminarily discussed. METHODS: Thirty rabbit models of liver cancer were randomly divided into 5 groups. Control Group A was injected with normal saline, control Group B was injected with absolute ethanol, experimental Group C was injected with lauromacrogol (Z =2.885D); the injection volume in experimental Group D was 1.5-fold higher than that in Group C; and the injection volume in experimental Group E was 2-fold higher than that in Group C. Changes in tumor volume were followed up by ultrasound before and 7 and 14 days after the operation; contrast-enhanced ultrasonography was used to measure the volume of the ablation area and volume rate. For pathological anatomy, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining were used to observe tumor cell necrosis and the degree of damage to surrounding normal liver cells. The expression levels of the apoptosis-related protein cleaved-caspase 3 and the cell proliferation antigen Ki67 were examined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The volumes in Groups A and C increased significantly. The volumes in Groups B, D, and E remained the same or slightly expanded, tumor growth in the three groups was significantly inhibited after sclerotherapy. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography showed that the ablation volume and ablation volume rate in Groups B, D, and E were similar. Group C were smaller than those in the other treatment groups. Large coagulative necrotic foci were observed in the central area of tumors in Groups B, D, and E. CONCLUSIONS: The experiment demonstrates that lauromacrogol can inhibit tumor growth in the rabbit VX2 tumor model and cause VX2 tumor cell apoptosis. The sclerosing effect of the 1.5-fold amount of lauromacrogol is equivalent to that of absolute ethanol, with little effect on normal liver tissue.