Twice-weekly intravenous treatment of pancreatic cancer with atrial natriuretic peptide and vessel dilator.

BACKGROUND: Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and vessel dilator eliminate 80% and 33% of human pancreatic adenocarcinomas growing in athymic mice when given subcutaneously for 28 days via osmotic pumps. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To determine if similar beneficial effects can be obtained by ANP and vessel dilator on a bi-weekly basis, bolus infusion via vascular ports bi-weekly for 4 weeks was given to athymic mice bearing human pancreatic adenocarcinomas. RESULTS: Vessel dilator and ANP (each at 100 microM) (n=6 for each) resulted in a 33% (p<0.01) and 17% (p<0.05) elimination of human pancreatic adenocarcinomas, respectively, while the tumor volume increased 64-fold (p<0.001) in the placebo-treated mice (n=12). During the 4 weeks of treatment, the growth velocity decreased 92% and 68% with vessel dilator and ANP, respectively, compared to untreated mice. CONCLUSION: Biweekly vessel dilator and ANP both eliminate some human pancreatic adenocarcinomas in athymic mice.