Inhibitory effect of arsenic trioxide on peritoneal metastasis in nude mice with colon cancer

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of As2O3 on the peritoneal metastasis of colon cancer in nude mice. METHODS: BALB/c-nu/nu mice were injected intraperitoneally with Lovo cells and were allocated to five groups at random: control, epirubicin and varying concentrations of As2O3. The length of their survival period and rates of tumorigenesis and ascitic fluid formation were evaluated. RESULTS: Epirubicin and low doses of As2O3 clearly inhibited ascitic fluid formation and extended the survival period of tumor-bearing nude mice. Moderate and large doses of As2O3 were able to eradicate cancer cells through apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: As2O3 can induce apoptosis in intraperitoneal colon cancer cells, inhibit ascitic fluid formation and extend the survival periods of nude mice to varying degrees.