Anti-tumor effects of chemotherapeutic drugs on human gastric cancer cells / 中华消化外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the anti-tumor effects of chemotherapeutic drugs on human gastric cancer cells. Methods From April 2006 to February 2007, 84 patients with gastric cancer underwent surgical resection at General Hospital of Jinan Military Command. The single-cell suspension of these gastric tumors was prepared. The gastric cancer cells were cultured with hydroxycamptothecin, cisplatin, adriamycin, 5-fluorouracil and mitomycin for 48 hours, and changes in activity of the gastric cancer cells were studied via MTT assay. The expression of survivin and PTEN was detected by immunohistochemistry. Data were analyzed by chi-square test, rank sum test and Fisher exact test. Results The anti-tumor effects of different chemotherapeutic drugs were different, and the poorly-differentiated gastric cancer cells were more sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapeutic drugs than the well-differentiated gastric cancer cells. The expression levels of survivin in the signet ring cell carcinoma, mucinous adenocarcinoma and other poorly-differentiated adenocarcinoma were significantly higher than those in papillary carcinoma and tubular carcinoma (χ~2 = 10.625, P <0.05), while the expression of PTEN was inverse to that of survivin (χ~2 = 6.060, P < 0.05). The expression of survivin was related to the resistance of the gastric cancer cells to 5-fluorouracil and adriamycin (χ~2 = 6.609, 6.350, P < 0.05). Conclusions In vitro chemosensitivity assay is helpful in selecting the chemotherapeutic regimen for specific types of gastric cancer. Survivin may contribute to the chemotherapy-resistance of certain types of gastric cancer cells, and its expression is related to that of PTEN.