Aspirin inhibits growth of ovarian cancer by upregulating caspase-3 and downregulating bcl-2.

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect and mechanism of different concentrations of aspirin in inhibiting the ovarian cancer of p53N236S gene knock-in mice. In total, 28 male p53S mice, with an age range of 4-6 weeks and weight of 20-25 g were selected. The animals were transplanted with SKOV3 cells to establish subdermal human ovarian cancer. The mice were randomly divided into different groups according to the aspirin concentrations (mmol/l) used, i.e., 0, 1, 2 and 3. Subsequently, intraperitoneal injection was performed once every two days for 3 weeks. The tumor volume, lifetime, tumor cell proliferation inhibition rates, caspase-3 protein and bcl-2 protein expression of the four groups were analyzed and compared. Following aspirin treatment for 1, 2 and 3 weeks, the tumor volume of the 3 mmol/l aspirin group was significantly smaller than the other groups (P<0.05). The higher concentration of aspirin led to a smaller tumor size (P<0.05). The cell proliferation inhibition rate of the 3 mmol/l aspirin group was significantly larger than that of other groups (P<0.05). The relative expression level of caspase-3, bcl-2 protein of the 3 mmol/l aspirin group was significantly improved and reduced, respectively. In conclusion, aspirin can inhibit the growth of ovarian cancer of p53S rats due to its upregulation of the expression of caspase-3 protein and downregulation of the expression of bcl-2 protein.