title: Infliximab enhances the therapeutic effects of 5-fluorouracil resulting in tumor regression in colon cancer.
abstract: Colon cancer (CC) is among the most common malignant diseases with a dismal survival. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) has been identified as a therapeutic target in various cancers, and anti-TNF-α treatment has shown promising effects in different cancer models. However, if TNF-α can be targeted in CC, the therapeutic values of anti-TNF-α treatment in CC remain unknown. Our study indicated that TNF-α is highly expressed in CC cell lines and patient tumor samples. High expression of TNF-α is an independent adverse prognosticator of CC. Targeting the TNF-α by its antibody infliximab induced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity and enhanced apoptosis leading to cell death. The combination of infliximab with 5-fluorouracil showed better responses in vitro and in vivo than 5-fluorouracil alone. In conclusion, this study identified TNF-α as a target of CC and anti-TNF-α treatment synergized with chemotherapy leading to a better outcome in preclinical models.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University; Hunan Key Laboratory of Nonresolving Inflammation and Cancer, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Fen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University; Hunan Key Laboratory of Nonresolving Inflammation and Cancer, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Feiyan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ai
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University.
authors.forename: Shaojun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University; Hunan Key Laboratory of Nonresolving Inflammation and Cancer, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University; Hunan Key Laboratory of Nonresolving Inflammation and Cancer, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: chemotherapy; colon cancer; prognosis; tumor necrosis factor-alpha; tumor regression