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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #298495
Title: Concomitant consumption of lycopene and fish oil inhibits tumor growth and progression in a mouse xenograft model of colon cancer

Author
item TANG, FENG-YAO - China Medical University
item PAI, MAN-HUI - Taipei Medical University
item KUO, YUEH-HSIUNG - China Medical University
item WANG, XIANG-DONG - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University

Submitted to: Molecular Nutrition and Food Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/2/2012
Publication Date: 9/7/2012
Citation: Tang, F., Pai, M., Kuo, Y., Wang, X. 2012. Concomitant consumption of lycopene and fish oil inhibits tumor growth and progression in a mouse xenograft model of colon cancer. Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. 56(10):1520-1531.

Interpretive Summary: The present study investigated whether consumption of lycopene and fish oil either alone or combined could prevent colon cancer growth in an animal model. The results show that lycopene and fish oil alone acted moderately well in terms of inhibition of tumor growth however when they were combined, the results showed an even greater increase in tumor growth protection. The significance of this study is in showing that using a combination of nutrients as a chemopreventive strategy against tumor growth and progression in the animal model is far more effective when compared to a single nutrient strategy.

Technical Abstract: Our previous report showed that concomitant supplementation of lycopene and eicosa-pentaenoic acid synergistically inhibited the proliferation of human colon cancer HT-29 cells in vitro. To validate our findings, the present study investigated whether consumption of lycopene and fish oil would help prevent tumor growth and progression in a mouse xenograft model of colon cancer. The inhibitory effects of lycopene and fish oil on tumor growth were verified by western blotting analysis, bioluminescent imaging, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining and ELISA. The results demonstrated that lycopene and fish oil synergistically inhibited the growth of colon cancer in tumor-bearing mice. The bioluminescent imaging, histopathological and IHC staining results indicated that lycopene and fish oil effectively suppressed tumor growth and progression of colon cancer in vivo. The chemopreventive effects of lycopene and fish oil were associated with augmented expression of the cell cycle inhibitors such as p21(CIP1/WAF1) and p27(Kip1) , and suppression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, beta-catenin, cyclin D1 and c-Myc proteins. Furthermore, lycopene and fish oil inhibited tumor progression through suppression of MMP-7, MMP-9, COX-2 and PGE2. These results show that lycopene and fish oil act synergistically as chemopreventive agents against tumor growth and progression in a mouse xenograft model of colon cancer.