Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2026
Pre-Conditioning the Airways of Mice with Bleomycin Increases the Efficiency of Orthotopic Lung Cancer Cell Engraftment
Published on: June 28, 2018
Cardiac hormones eliminate some human squamous lung carcinomas in athymic mice
A Lenz1, Y Sun, E J Eichelbaum
1University of South Florida Cardiac Hormone Center and James A. Haley Veterans Medical Center, Tampa, FL, USA.
Background:
Four cardiac hormones synthesized by the same gene, i.e. atrial natriuretic peptide, vessel dilator, long acting natriuretic peptide and kaliuretic peptide, have anticancer effects in vitro.
Materials And Methods:
These cardiac hormones were infused subcutaneously for 28 days with weekly fresh hormones at 0.3 nM kg(-1) body weight in athymic mice bearing human squamous cell carcinomas.
Results:
Vessel dilator, atrial natriuretic peptide and kaliuretic peptide each eliminated one in six (17%) of the human squamous cell lung carcinomas. Long-acting natriuretic peptide, although it did not eliminate any of the human squamous cell lung carcinomas did decrease the volume of one carcinoma to only 2% (P < 0.0001) of the untreated carcinomas. The squamous cell lung carcinomas that were not eliminated, with the exception of the one LANP-treated tumour that decreased to only 2% of the volume of the untreated cancers, grew rapidly but their growth velocity compared to controls decreased by 76%, 40%, 38% and 25% in the vessel dilator, atrial natriuretic peptide, kaliuretic peptide and long-acting natriuretic peptide groups respectively (P < 0.05).
Conclusions:
Three of four cardiac hormones synthesized by the atrial natriuretic peptide gene can eliminate human squamous cell lung carcinomas in athymic mice when treated subcutaneously for 4 weeks. The 4th cardiac hormone, i.e. long-acting natriuretic peptide, decreased the volume of one squamous cell lung carcinoma to 2% of that of untreated animals, suggesting that it, too, has beneficial effects on squamous cell lung cancers.
Insights
Four cardiac hormones show anticancer effects against human squamous cell lung carcinomas in mice. Three hormones eliminated tumors, while the fourth significantly reduced tumor volume, indicating therapeutic potential.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Oncology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Four cardiac hormones, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), vessel dilator (VD), long-acting natriuretic peptide (LANP), and kaliuretic peptide (KP), share a common gene and exhibit in vitro anticancer properties.
- These natriuretic peptides are crucial in cardiovascular regulation and have emerged as potential therapeutic agents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the in vivo anticancer efficacy of four cardiac hormones against human squamous cell lung carcinomas.
- To evaluate the impact of these hormones on tumor elimination and growth rate in an animal model.
Main Methods:
- Athymic mice bearing human squamous cell carcinomas were subcutaneously infused with ANP, VD, LANP, and KP for 28 days at a dosage of 0.3 nM/kg body weight.
- Tumor elimination rates and growth velocities were compared between treatment groups and controls.
Main Results:
- Vessel dilator, atrial natriuretic peptide, and kaliuretic peptide each eliminated 17% of the squamous cell lung carcinomas.
- Long-acting natriuretic peptide did not eliminate tumors but reduced one carcinoma's volume to 2% of controls.
- Tumor growth velocity decreased significantly across all treatment groups, with the most substantial reduction observed in the vessel dilator group (76%).
Conclusions:
- Three of the four cardiac hormones (VD, ANP, KP) demonstrated the ability to eliminate human squamous cell lung carcinomas in vivo.
- Long-acting natriuretic peptide also showed beneficial effects by significantly reducing tumor volume, suggesting its therapeutic potential for lung cancer.
- These findings highlight the potential of natriuretic peptides as a novel therapeutic strategy for squamous cell lung carcinomas.
