Background: Studies on experimental model of cancer showed that hydatid cyst fluid (HCF) has antitumor activity. We aimed to investigate the effect of HCF and Antigen B (AgB) on 4T1 breast tumor cells in BALB/c mice.
Methods: This study was carried out in the Department of Parasitology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran from 2019 to 2020. There were two control groups of BALB/c mice (one group were injected with aluminum sulfate and another group with PBS), and six groups, injected via the intraperitoneal route with 100, 300 and 500 μg/ml concentrations of HCF, AgB diluted in 100 μl PBS, and alum. Seven days after the last treatment, 7×105 4T1 cells were subcutaneously injected into the right flank of BALB/c mice.
Results: The difference between the mean size of the tumor in the case and control groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). The mean level of cytokines between the case and control groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). Our histo-pathological studies showed a reduction in both tumor volume and carcinogenesis in groups injected with 300 μg/ml HCF and 500 μg/ml AgB. The antitumor activity of HCF and AgB may be related to the immune responses against these antigens.
Conclusion: We suggest that polarization of the Th1/Th2 ratio toward the Th1 pathway occurred in groups injected with HCF and AgB. More comprehensive and precise experiments using different hydatid cyst components are required to investigate their prophylactic effects on breast cancer.
Keywords: Breast neoplasms; Cyst fluid; Immunization; Zoonoses.
Copyright © 2022 Vafae Eslahi et al. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences.