Silymarin suppressed lung cancer growth in mice via inhibiting myeloid-derived suppressor cells

In this study, we investigated the antitumor activity of Silymarin in a mouse model of colon cancer xenograft of Lewis lung cancer (LLC) cells. Silymarin significantly suppressed tumor growth and induced apoptosis of cells in tumor tissues at a dose of 25 and 50 mg/kg. Silymarin treatment enhanced the infiltration and function of CD8+ T cells. In the meantime, Silymarin decreased the level of IL-10 while elevated the level of IL-2 and IFN-γ in the serum of tumor-bearing mice. Finally, Silymarin reduced the proportion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) in the tumor tissue and also the mRNA expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthases-2 (iNOS2), arginase-1 (Arg-1) and MMP9, which indicated that the function of MDSC in tumor tissues were suppressed. Altogether, our data here showed that Silymarin inhibited the MDSC and promoted the infiltration and function of CD8+ T cells thus suppressed the growth of LLC xenografts, which provides evidence for the possible use of Silymarin against lung cancer.