Evaluation of NMU-Induced Breast Cancer Treated with Sirolimus and Sunitinib on Breast Cancer Growth

Jaffar, Nurul Fathiyatul Nabila; Muhammad Sakri, Muhammad Shahidan; Jaafar, Hasnan; Wan Abdul Rahman, Wan Faiziah; Tengku Din, Tengku Ahmad Damitri Al-Astani

doi:10.31557/APJCP.2020.21.10.2919

Evaluation of NMU-Induced Breast Cancer Treated with Sirolimus and Sunitinib on Breast Cancer Growth

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

¹ Department of Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Malaysia.

² Department of Chemical Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Malaysia.

10.31557/APJCP.2020.21.10.2919

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the effect of sirolimus and sunitinib in blocking the tumor growth and to evaluate the expressions of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2/neu) after treated with sirolimus and sunitinib. Methods: Thirty-two female Sprague Dawley rats at age 21-days old were administered intraperitoneally with N-Methyl-N-Nitroso Urea (NMU), dosed at 70mg/kg body weight. The rats were divided into 4 groups; Group 1 (Control, n=8), Group 2 (Sirolimus, n=8), Group 3 (Sunitinib, n=8) and Group 4 (Sirolimus+Sunitinib, n=8), being treated twice when the tumor reached the size of 14.5±0.5 mm and subsequently sacrificed after 5 days. The protein expressions of ER, PgR and HER2/neu of the tumor tissues were evaluated by using immunohistochemistry analysis. Results: Treatment with sirolimus alone lowered expressions of ER and PgR of breast cancer and reduced tumor size. There was no significant difference of ER and PgR expressions between control and sunitinib treated tumor. Sunitinib treated tumors reduce in diameter after the first treatment, however the diameter increases after the second treatment. Histologically, sunitinib treated tumor did not show any aggressive invasive carcinoma of no special type (NST) histological subtypes. In addition, all NMU-induced tumors are HER2/neu-negative scoring. Conclusion: Sirolimus is neither synergistic nor additive with sunitinib for breast cancer treatment.

Keywords