[A new strategy for the therapy of pancreatic cancer by proton pump inhibitor].

Bafilomycin A1 is a specific inhibitor of vacuolar type proton pump (V-ATPase). This study was designed to examine the effect of bafilomycin A1 on the growth of Capan-1 human pancreatic cells which overexpress V-ATPase. Nude mice bearing a xenografted tumor of Capan-1 cell line were treated for 4 weeks with bafilomycin A1 (1.0 mg/kg/day). This treatment inhibited tumor growth, which was significantly reduced as compared with controls after 21 days (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in body weights between groups. Microscopically, a large number of tumor cells in the treated group showed signs of apoptosis. These findings suggest that apoptosis induced by bafilomycin A1 was the event involved in suppression of tumor growth in vivo.