Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of vinorelbine tartrate lipid microsphere (NVB-lip) injection on growth of human breast cancer cells in nude mice. METHODS: 35 female BALB/c-nu mice were inoculated with human breast cancer BCAP-37 cells. These mice were divided randomly into 5 groups for further treatments:NVB-lip high dose group (NVB-lip 10 mg/kg), medium dose group (NVB-lip 5 mg/kg), low dose group (NVB-lip 2.5 mg/kg), positive drug control group (NVB-free 5 mg/kg) and negative control group (only lipid microsphere). There were 7 mice each group. Injection with NVB-lip was done after 6-8 days when the tumors shaped. NVB-lip was injected intravenously every 3 or 4 days each week for 6 times in total. Weights and tumor volumes(V_T) of mice were observed and measured on No. 4, 7, 11, 14, 18 and 23 days from the first injection. Relative tumor volumn(V_RT), relative tumor proliferation rate and tumor inhibition rate were calculated. RESULTS: The weights of nude mice for different groups increased slowly but the differences were not statistically significant. Compared with the negative group, the (V_RT) and relative tumor proliferation rates of NVB-lip groups were reduced but tumor inhibition rate was increased. The differences were statistically significant (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The inhibition of NVB-lip high dose group(2.5-10 mg/kg) was more obviously than that of the other groups. NVB-lip may have clinical applications.

Key words: vinorelbine tartrate lipid microsphere injection, nude mice, human breast cancer, tumor inhibition