Nicotinamide can lower tumor interstitial fluid pressure: mechanistic and therapeutic implications.

Several investigators have shown that nicotinamide (NA) may increase the tumor blood flow and/or alleviate temporal fluctuations in tumor blood flow and, consequently, increase pO2. However, the mechanisms of these changes in tumor blood flow are not understood, especially because NA lowers the mean arterial blood pressure in mice. Our hypothesis is that NA may decrease flow resistance in tumors, which would lower vascular pressure and tumor interstitial fluid pressure (TIFP). To test this hypothesis, we measured the physiological parameters: mean arterial blood pressure, TIFP, tumor water content, and hematocrit in C3H mice bearing FSaII tumors, before and after treatment with 500 mg/kg of NA. In control animals, TIFP increased with tumor growth up to 400 mm3, reached a plateau, and then decreased when the tumor size was above 1000 mm3 (n = 135). Tumor water content correlated significantly with TIFT (for tumors less than 500 mm3) (n = 26). NA caused approximately a 15% decrease in mean arterial blood pressure (P less than 0.05) and a 35% decrease in TIFP (P less than 0.001) at 2 h postinjection, without any change in hematocrit. The change in TIFP was found to be tumor size dependent. Specifically, NA decreased the TIFP by 47% (P less than 0.001) and 39% (P less than 0.001) in medium (200 to 500 mm3) and large (500 to 800 mm3) tumors, respectively. The decrease in TIFP in small (less than 200 mm3) and very large (greater than 800 mm3) tumors was not statistically significant (P greater than 0.1). Our results may explain the size-dependent enhancement in pO2 and radiation response reported by I. Lee and C. W. Song (Radiat. Res., 130: 65-71, 1992) for this tumor line. If our results could be confirmed in human tumors in situ, they would have significant implications in noninvasive measurements of TIFP using NMR and in cancer treatment using radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.