Synergistic and attenuated effect of HSS in combination treatment with docetaxel plus cisplatin in human non-small-cell lung SPC-A-1 tumor xenograft

Platinum based combination regimens are first-line treatment option in treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) but the clinical utility has been limited because of their toxicities. Many reports indicated that patients with tumors can benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy drugs. The aim of this study was to confirm adjuvant chemotherapy of HSS with docetaxel plus cisplatin (DP) against NSCLC by evaluating antitumor activity and attenuated effect. In vivo SPC-A-1 xenograft model was established to evaluate antitumor activity and toxicity of HSS along or combination with DP. Evaluation indexes include the relative tumor proliferation rate, tumor growth inhibition rate, body weight, food consumption, hematological and biochemical analysis. HSS treatment showed inhibited tumor growth and increased tumor inhibition of DP treatment at doses of 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg. No significant toxicity was found in HSS-treated mice, but significant toxicity was found in DP-treated mice. HSS combination with DP could reduce toxicity of DP treatment by improving body weight and food consumption, and increasing the number of WBC and PLT, decreasing the level of ALT, AST and BUN. HSS combined with DP treatment has additive effect which contributes to enhance tumor growth inhibition of DP treatment and attenuated effect which contributes to reduce toxicity of DP treatment. These findings indicate potential benefit for use of HSS adjuvant chemotherapy for NSCLC treatment.