Abstract. Our previous findings revealed that FGFR4 may be a novel therapeutic target for gastric cancer. The aim of the present study was to explore the effects of a combination of PD173074 (PD) and 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) on the biological behavior of gastric cancer cell lines and the relevant mechanisms involved. MKN45, a gastric cancer cell line, was treated with each single agent alone or a combination of FGF19, PD and 5-Fu. Then, a series of functional assays were performed using CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry. Western blot analysis was used to determine the expression of signaling pathway and downstream-related molecules in the MKN45 cells following the different treatments. As the concentration of PD and 5-Fu increased, the cell viability gradually decreased; the viability of the combination group was less than the viability following single administration. Western blot analysis showed that FGFR4 expression was weak in the 5-Fu-treated groups when compared with the control. PD markedly increased the apoptosis rate of MKN45 cells when compared to the control; the apoptosis rate in the cells treated with the combination of PD and 5-Fu was higher than that in the cells following single treatment. Furthermore, PD reduced the expression of p-ERK and Bcl-xl and increased caspase-3 expression. Inhibition of the activity of FGFR4 may be the main mechanisms of PD effect while 5-Fu reduced FGFR4 expression. Furthermore, the effects of the combination of 5-Fu and PD in inhibiting proliferation, increasing apoptosis and arresting cell cycle were superior to these effects following the single agent treatments, suggesting that the two drugs applied in combination may contribute to the effective treatment of gastric cancer.
IntroductionGastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most common malignant tumor worldwide (1). GC patients in China have an extremely high rate of morbidity and mortality. Patients with earlystage GC account for only 20% of cases in China, which is much less than that in Japan and Korea. Therefore, most GC patients in China are diagnosed with advanced GC and require comprehensive therapy including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Currently, there are many neoadjuvant, adjuvant and palliative chemotherapies available for GC patients, such as ECF, DCF, oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu). However, the most crucial drug is 5-Fu. Recently, targeted drugs have become an intense field in the research and application of GC treatment. Cetuximab (targeted to EGFR), bevacizumab (targeted to VEGF) and Herceptin (targeted to Her-2) have been applied in clinical trails of gastric cancer. Importantly, in October 2010, the Food and Drug Administration approved the combination of Herceptin and chemotherapy for the treatment of late-stage or metastatic GC patients with positive expression of Her-2.However, to date, no other targeted drugs have achieved a breakthrough in the treatment of GC apart for Herceptin. Although targeted drug treatment is the future direction, exploring new therapeutic targets in GC has beco...