Conclusions
Our findings give new insights into the role of QCSL in bladder cancer and explore potential mechanisms contributing to the therapeutic effects of QCSL in bladder cancer.
Methods
T24 cells were injected into the flanks of nude mice and the mice were randomly divided into five groups: control; 20 mg/kg XAV-939 (an inhibitor of the WNT/β-catenin pathway); QCSL (100, 200, or 400 mg/kg). After 7 weeks, the mice were anaesthetised using isoflurane and the xenografts were excised to perform further experiments.
Objective
The efficacy of QCSL (Qici Sanling decoction) in bladder cancer treatment was examined. Materials and
Results
Both XAV-939 (tumour volume: 379.67 ± 159.92 mm3) and QCSL (796.18 ± 101.6 mm3) dramatically suppressed tumour growth comparing with control group (3612.12 ± 575.03 mm3). XAV-939 and QCSL treatments decreased cell proliferation from 56.3 ± 0.05% to 29.02 ± 0.07% and 37.51 ± 0.04%, respectively. In agreement, more infiltration of immune cells and pyknotic cells upon XAV-939 (apoptosis rates: 43.92 ± 0.03%) and QCSL (34.57 ± 0.04%) treatment comparing with control group (15.59 ± 0.03%) were observed. Furthermore, TUNEL staining of xenograft tumours illustrated more apoptotic cells upon XAV-939 and QCSL treatment. Mechanistically, XAV-939 and QCSL treatments significantly inhibited WNT/β-catenin pathway in T24 xenograft tumours.