Affiliations: Dr. Rath Research Institute, Oncology Division, 1260
Memorex Drive, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Aleksandra Niedzwiecki, 1260 Memorex
Drive, Santa Clara, CA 95050, USA. Tel. +1 408 807 5564; Fax: +1 408 567 5030;
E-mail: author@drrath.com
Abstract: Highly metastatic melanoma is resistant to existing therapies. A
unique micronutrient mixture (NM) containing ascorbic acid, amino acids, green
tea extract has been shown to exhibit anticancer activity in vivo and
in vitro in a number of cancer cell lines including human and murine
melanoma cells lines. In this study we examined the effect of dietary NM
supplementation on hepatic metastasis of intrasplenic injection of B16FO
melanoma cells in athymic nude mice. Athymic nude mice (n =
10), 10–12 weeks of age, received 10^{6} B16FO melanoma
cells by injection into the spleen and divided into two groups. The Control
group of mice received Purina mouse chow and the NM group received the regular
diet supplemented with NM 0.5%. After two weeks, animals were sacrificed and
spleens, livers, kidneys and lungs were excised from all animals, examined,
weighed and processed for histology. The Control mice developed large black
spleens and livers indicating growth in the spleen and metastasis to the liver.
However, the mice supplemented with NM not only showed less tumor growth in the
spleen as the Control mice, but also drastically reduced metastasis to the
liver. In all groups, no metastasis to the kidneys and lungs was evident. In
conclusion, these results suggest that NM has potential in suppression of tumor
metastasis.
