Inhibitory effect of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug,celecoxib, on angiogenesis in lung cancer

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of celecoxib on angiogenesis in lung cancer.Methods Different doses of celecoxib were added to the lung cancer cell line of A549 to demonstrate its biological function. MTT was performed to reveal the inhibitory effect on cell proliferation,and VEGF mRNA level in A549 was measured by RT-PCR. For in vivo study, nude mice model for tumor transplantation was developed to observe the inhibitory role of celecoxib on tumor proliferation;tumor microvessel density (MVD) was monitored by immnohistochemistry.Results There was a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation by celecoxib. IC50 was 50 μmol/L.A higher level of VEGF mRNA was observed in test group than that in control group (P0.05).In addition, the expression level of VEGF mRNA correlated with the concentration of celecoxib.The average weight of tumor nodules in control group was (2.1567±0.9750) g, while that in the experimental group was (0.9783±0.5423) g,the inhibitive rate being 54.64%,with statistically significant difference(P0.05). The MVD of transplanted tumor in test group manifested a significant decrease,compared with control group (P0.05).Conclusion Celecoxib inhibits the proliferation of lung cancer cell in vitro and in vivo, which may account for its inhibitory effect on angiogenesis.