Tetrandrine can alleviate inflammation and delay the growth of lung cancer during low-dose radiotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

This study investigated the expression of inflammatory factors in tumour tissues, monocytes and blood of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients taking tetrandrine (Tet) during low-dose radiotherapy. Sixty NSCLC patients underwent surgical resection of lung cancer after low-dose radiotherapy. Thirty patients did not take Tet (control group) and the other thirty patients took Tet during radiotherapy (experimental group). Lung cancer tissues were collected from patients, and tumour-adjacent tissues were collected as controls. Peripheral blood was collected on the morning of radiotherapy for mononuclear cell separation. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to determine mRNA expression, and Western blotting was used to measure protein expression. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the inflammatory factor contents in liquid samples. Cell proliferation was determined via MTT assay at 24, 48 and 72 h after transfection in A549 cells. Tet reduced COX-2 mRNA in serum and blood monocytes and decreased COX-2 protein expression in monocytes from patients with radiotherapy. It decreased the release of inflammatory factors to blood after radiotherapy. Combined treatment with low-dose radiotherapy and Tet tablets reduced the expression of Ki-67 protein in tumour tissues, and decreased the release of inflammatory factors from NSCLC tissues after radiotherapy. Combined treatment with low-dose radiotherapy and Tet tablets reduced the proliferation of cancer cells possibly through reducing inflammatory factors released by tumour tissues. The study demonstrates that Tet administration during low-dose radiotherapy reduces the release of inflammatory factors by NSCLC tissues, and decreases tumour proliferation. Tet plays an auxiliary role in NSCLC radiotherapy.

Keywords:

• Non-small cell lung cancer
• tetrandrine
• inflammatory factor
• proliferation

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Zhande He of Xuyi County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Author contributions

The final version of the manuscript has been read and approved by all authors, and each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work. CL and XC collaborated to design the study. CL and HC performed experiments. CL and XC analyzed the data. All authors collaborated to interpret results and develop the manuscript.

Ethical approval and consent to participate

All procedures performed in the current study were approved by the Ethics Committee of Xuyi County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients or their families.

Consent for publication

Written informed consents for publication of any associated data and accompanying images were obtained from all patients or their parents, guardians or next of kin.