Differential effects of nitric oxide deficiency on primary tumour growth, pulmonary metastasis and prostacyclin/thromboxane A2 balance in orthotopic and intravenous murine models of 4T1 breast cancer.

The role of nitric oxide (NO) in tumour progression and metastasis is not clear, therefore the present work aimed to better characterise the effects of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition by L-Nω-nitroarginine methyl ester (L-NAME) on primary tumour growth, pulmonary metastasis, inflammatory state and prostacyclin (PGI2)/thromboxane A2 (TXA2) balance in a 4T1 murine model of breast cancer. To distinguish effects of NO deficiency on disease development, 4T1 cancer cells were administered orthotopically or intravenously to Balb/c mice. The systemic NO bioavailability, pulmonary inflammation and plasma levels of thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and 6-keto-prostaglandin F1α (6-keto-PGF1α) were assessed. The study shows that, in the orthotopic model of 4T1 breast cancer, L-NAME hampered primary tumour growth, reduced pulmonary metastases, delayed inflammatory response but did not alter biosynthesis of TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1α as well as PGI2/TXA2 ratio in cancer-bearing mice. Interestingly, in the intravenous model of 4T1 breast cancer, NOS inhibition did not influence metastasis nor inflammation, but it increased both TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1α biosynthesis without affecting PGI2/TXA2 ratio. In conclusion, in a 4T1 murine model of metastatic breast cancer, NO plays a major role in primary tumour development, while NO is not the key mediator of cancer cell extravasation to the lungs. Furthermore, NO-deficiency activates a PGI2-dependent compensatory mechanism only in the intravenous model of 4T1 breast cancer.