Huachansu injection inhibits metastasis of pancreatic cancer in mice model of human tumor xenograft

BACKGROUND: Huachansu injection (HCS) is a water-soluble preparation made from Bufo gargarizans’s skin, which has been widely used in clinics for tumor therapy in China. Though the anti-cancer activity of HCS has been verified through studies in vitro and in vivo, there is little research about its potential anti-metastasis effect. The primary objective of this study was to assess the effects of HCS on both the invasion of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and on the progression of liver metastasis in vivo in this study. METHODS: HCS anti-metastasis potential was accessed using both assay of Cell viability and invasion in vitro, and then further Establishing xenograft model in nude mice. In the cell-based assay, mRNA and protein expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and VEGF was detected by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and western blotting. In animal experiment, liver metastasis nodules and change of liver-body ratio was observed. Meanwhile, correlation of the CA19-9 and CEA content in serum with the progression of liver metastasis was analyzed. RESULT: We observed that HCS prevented the invasion of cancer cells, with inhibiting the expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9, and reduced not only the number of metastasis nodules but the ratio of liver-body weight as well. Furthermore, HCS decreased the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and VEGF in liver metastasis, while also reducing CA19-9 contents in serum. In addition, correlation analysis indicated that the level of CA19-9 in serum was closely related to the number of liver metastasis nodules. CONCLUSION: Our experimental results suggest that HCS has some anti-metastasis potential to suppress the growth of liver metastasis by decreasing the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 as well as VEGF. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1472-6882-14-483) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.