Complete inhibition of rhabdomyosarcoma xenograft growth and neovascularization requires blockade of both tumor and host vascular endothelial growth factor

Growth of the human rhabdomyosarcoma A673 cell line in nude mice is substantially reduced but not completely suppressed after systemic administration of the antihuman vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monoclonal antibody (Mab) A.4.6.1. Potentially, such escape might be attributable to incomplete local penetration of the antibody because of a diffusion barrier associated with tumor growth. Alternatively, it might reflect a compensatory up-regulation of murine VEGF, produced by the stroma of the host, or of other angiogenic factor genes. To test these potential mechanisms, systemic administration of Mab A.4.6.1, was performed in conjunction with intratumoral administration of an irrelevant antibody, an antihuman VEGF Fab or mFlt(1-3)-IgG that neutralizes both human and murine VEGF. Tumor growth in the systemic-plus-intratumoral anti-VEGF group was not different from that in the systemic anti-VEGF-plus-intratumoral-control antibody group, arguing against the possibility that bioavailability is the factor that limits the antitumor efficacy of Mab A.4.6.1. However, intratumoral mFlt(l-3)-IgG administration dramatically enhanced the activity of systemic anti-VEGF Mab and resulted in complete suppression of tumor growth, which indicated that host VEGF significantly contributes to tumor growth. Systemic administration of mFlt(1-3)-IgG alone replicated these findings. Histological analysis of residual tumor tissues revealed an almost complete absence of host-derived vasculature and massive tumor-cell necrosis in the mFlt(1-3)-IgG groups. Such extensive necrotic areas were not present in the other groups. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR analysis of total RNA derived from tumor tissues indicated strong up-regulation of both human and murine VEGF as well as other genes regulated by hypoxia. Our findings emphasize the need to completely block VEGF for maximal inhibition of tumor growth.