Cancer Patient–Derived Circulating Microparticles Enhance Lung Metastasis in a Rat Model: Dual-Source CT, Cellular, and Molecular Studies

Purpose: This study aimed to test the hypothesis that lung cancer patient–derived circulating microparticles (LCC-MPs) enhance metastatic lung tumors in a rat model. Procedures: The controls (n = 6) and LCC-MP-treated rats (n = 6) with N1S1-induced pulmonary metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) underwent dual-source CT (DSCT) on days 10, 15, and 20. Cellular and molecular studies were performed subsequently. Results: DSCT revealed slow progression of metastatic lung tumors in the controls. Compared with the controls, the LCC-MP-treated rats exhibited significantly more and larger metastatic tumors on days 15 and 20 on DSCT, enhanced angiogenesis with higher microvessel count (CD34+), more CXCR4+ and VEGF+ cells in immunohistofluorescence studies, and higher protein expression levels of eNOS, angiopoietin, vascular endothelial growth factor, and CD31 on western blotting (Mann–Whitney test, all P < 0.05). Conclusions: LCC-MPs can elicit oncogenic stimulation and accelerate metastatic HCC growth in rat lung as demonstrated on DSCT and enhanced tumoral angiogenesis as confirmed in cellular and molecular studies.