aims: To investigate the effects of ultrasound cavitation and chemotherapy on ovarian cancer cells. background: Ultrasound cavitation combined with chemotherapy can induce tumor cell apoptosis, but there is no report on the study of ultrasound combined with chemotherapy on cancer cells in ascites of clinical ovarian cancer patients. objective: To investigate the effects of low-frequency ultrasound and microbubbles (USMB) combined with chemotherapy paclitaxel and cisplatin (PC) on ovarian cancer cells. method: It was divided into three parts. In the in vitro research, ovarian cancer cell lines were divided into four groups: control, USMB, PC, and USMB+PC. The ultrasound parameters were 20 kHz, 2 W/cm2, and a 40% duty cycle. The cell membrane structure was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A TUNEL assay was used to investigate cell apoptosis. In the in vivo research, ascites tumors of ovarian cancer in nude mice were induced; USMB+PC were used to treat the ascites in the nude mice. The volumes of the ascites before and after treatment were compared using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In the ex vivo research, ascites samples were collected from six cases of clinical ovarian cancer patients, and each ascites sample was divided into control and USMB+PC. The Thinprep cytologic test (TCT) was used to observe the sonication effect. result: SEM revealed that the cancer cell walls in the control and PC were intact. Cancer cell wall defects were observed in the USMB and USMB+PC, with pores ranging from 5 to 15μm in diameter. The USMB+PC had the highest apoptosis rate, with statistical differences compared to the other three groups (all plt;0.05). After USMB+PC treatment, the volume of ascites in the nude mice decreased (t=3.6, p=0.0228). The TCT results revealed that in the control, the tumor cells appeared clustered, with enlarged cells, large nuclei, a high nuclear cytoplasmic ratio, and deep nuclear staining. In the USMB+PC, the tumor cell membrane was unclear, with irregular edges, nuclear condensation, tumor cell degeneration, and necrosis. conclusion: Low-frequency ultrasound irradiation of microbubbles produces cavitation effects, and, when combined with chemotherapy, it can enhance tumor cell apoptosis, inhibit the formation of ascites in nude mice, and promote the degeneration and necrosis of ascites tumor cells in ovarian cancer patients. other: Impact statement In the in vitro research, ultrasound cavitation produce sonoporation, lead to cancer cell wall defects, with pores forming with a diameter of 5-15μm. The sonoporation and chemotherapy (paclitaxel and cisplatin) enhanced the tumor cell apoptosis. In the in vivo research, ultrasound and chemotherapy reduced the ascites in nude mice. In the ex vivo research, ultrasound cavitation promotes the degeneration and necrosis in tumor cells of ascites in ovarian cancer patients.
Fan et al. (Wed,) studied this question.