Effect of arsenic trioxide-loaded CalliSpheres beads in the treatment of rabbits with VX2 liver tumor

Objective To investigate the effect of arsenic trioxide-loaded CalliSpheres beads( CBATO) in transarterial chemoembolization( TACE) in the treatment of rabbits with VX2 liver tumor. Methods A total of 120 tumor-bearing rabbits were divided into control group,CalliSpheres beads( CB) group( blank beads for TACE),CBATO group,and conventional TACE( cTACE) group( arsenic trioxide lipiodol for TACE) using a random number table,with 30 rabbits in each group. Five rabbits in each group were sacrificed at 12 hours and on days 3,7,and 14 after TACE,and immunohistochemistry was used to measure the proliferation index and apoptosis percentage of tumor cells in the residual tumor area. The tumor necrotic volume was measure on day 7 after TACE,and the growth rate and necrosis rate of tumor cells were calculated. Ten rabbits were randomly selected from each group for the observation of survival time. An analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups,and the least significant difference t-test was used for further comparison between two groups; the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to evaluate survival time,and the log-rank test was used for comparison.Results On day 7 after TACE,the CBATO group had a significantly lower growth rate and a significantly higher necrosis rate of tumor cells than the cTACE group,the CB group,and the control group( all P < 0. 05). At each time point after TACE,there were significant differences in the proliferation index and apoptosis percentage of tumor cells between the CBATO group and the other three groups( all P < 0. 05).The median survival time was 26 days in the CBATO group,18. 5 days in the CB group,22 days in the cTACE group,and 15. 5 days in the control group,and the CBATO group had a significantly longer survival time than the other three groups( χ2= 3. 95,8. 99,and 13. 47,P =0. 049,P = 0. 003,and P < 0. 01). Conclusion CBATO has a better effect than cTACE and CB in the treatment of rabbits with VX2 liver tumor and can significantly improve tumor necrosis rate,promote the apoptosis of tumor cells,and prolong the survival time of experimental animals.