Objective: To study the inhibitory effects of celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, on the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
Methods: The in vitro inhibitory effects of celecoxib at different concentrations and for different treatment time lengths on human liver cancer cell line SMMC-7,721 were observed with MTT assay, and flow cytometry was performed to detect the cell cycle changes. The in vivo tumor inhibition effect of celecoxib was evaluated in Kunming mice bearing transplanted tumor derived from liver cancer cell line H22 transplantation.
Result: Celecoxib significantly inhibited the in vitro growth of human liver cancer cell line SMMC-7721 in a time- and dose-dependent manner. A 36-hour celecoxib treatment (40 micromol/L) resulted in decreased SMMC-7721 cell proliferation and an increase of the cell percentage in G1 phase from 44.7% to 49.9% with decreased cell percentage in S and G(2)/M phases from 55.4% to 50.1%. In the mice bearing H22 transplanted tumor, celecoxib showed significant inhibitory effect on the growth and local metastasis of the transplanted tumor.
Conclusion: Celecoxib can inhibit the proliferation of different liver cancer cell lines both in vitro and in vivo, and therefore may serve as an important candidate drug for prevention and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.