Cardiac hormones eliminate some human squamous lung carcinomas in athymic mice.
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.


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.
Lenz
A
A
University of South Florida Cardiac Hormone Center and James A. Haley Veterans Medical Center, Tampa, FL, USA.
Sun
Y
Y
Eichelbaum
E J
EJ
Skelton
W P
WP
Pi
G
G
Vesely
D L
DL
D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor