Treatment of Human Pancreatic Cancer in Mice with Angiogenic Inhibitors

Tumor growth is dependent on the balance of positive and negative regulators of angiogenesis. Antiangiogenic compounds inhibit endothelial cell biology in vitro and angiogenesis in vivo. Therefore antiangiogenic therapy presumes to be an effective treatment for pancreatic cancer. We wanted to determine the effect of antiangiogenic therapy on the growth of human pancreatic cancer in a mouse model. The angiogenesis inhibitors TNP‐470 and antiangiogenic antithrombin III (aaATIII) were tested in vitro for their ability to inhibit endothelial cell proliferation. These inhibitors, along with the known antiangiogenic molecule endostatin, were then employed to treat two different primary human pancreatic cancers implanted subcutaneously into the dorsa of immunodeficient (SCID) mice. Treated tumors were examined histologically for microvessel density, apoptosis, and proliferation. All three inhibitors suppressed the growth of pancreatic tumors in vivo. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed increased degrees of apoptosis and reduced microvessel density in treated tumors compared to untreated tumors, although tumor cell proliferation was the same in both groups. None of the inhibitors tested significantly inhibited proliferation of human pancreatic cancer cells, although both TNP‐470 and aaATIII were able to inhibit the proliferation of endothelial cells. The observed tumor suppression may be due to increased tumor cell apoptosis as a result of capillary dropout. These studies show that after the angiogenic switch in a human tumor, there is residual production of angiogenesis inhibitors.