Abstract
Purpose:
Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) was shown to inhibit proliferation, angiogenesis and induce apoptosis in colorectal, ovarian and endometrial cancer cells. Moreover, ASA has been shown to abrogate various processes that contribute to tumor growth and progression, via both COX-2 dependent and independent mechanisms. Currently, ASA is being evaluated in clinical trials as an adjuvant therapy to treat multiple cancer types. The goal of the current study is to evaluate the effects of ASA on metastatic uveal melanoma (UM) cells.
Methods:
OMM1.5, a well characterized UM cell line derived from a metastatic liver nodule, was used in the current study. OMM1.5 cells were treated with 5 mM ASA for 48 hours and compared to their untreated counterparts for their ability to secrete a panel of 10 proangiogenic cytokines using a sandwich ELISA-based array. Additionally, the functional characteristics of treated and untreated cells were compared using proliferation, invasion, and migration assays.
Results:
Treatment with ASA caused a significant decrease in angiogenin and PIGF secretion, and an increase in HB-EGF secretion (P<0.05). No significant change was seen for the other seven proangiogenic cytokines, which included ANG-2, EGF, bFGF, HGF, Leptin, PDGF-BB, and VEGF. Moreover, treatment with ASA significantly inhibited the proliferation and invasion capabilities of OMM1.5 cells (P<0.05 for both).
Conclusions:
These results suggest that ASA may be effective as an adjuvant therapy to reduce the proliferation and invasion of metastatic UM. Future studies are needed to determine the mechanisms underlying how ASA simultaneously increase and decreases some proangiogenic cytokines in metastatic UM cell lines.