Figure 5. Quercetin potentiates SMMC7721 tumor growth inhibition by DOX in vivo.

SMMC7721 cell-derived tumors were developed in nude mice and treated with saline, quercetin, DOX, and DOX + quercetin. (A) Tumor growth was monitored by measuring the tumor volume for three weeks. (n = 5 mice per group). *P<0.01 vs. the control and quercetin-treated groups. **P<0.01 vs. DOX-treated group. (B) At the end of three weeks, the tumors were collected and weighed. DOX reduced the tumor size compared with the control and quercetin-treated groups (*P<0.05). Co-treatment significantly reduced the tumor size compared with other treatment groups (**P<0.001). (C) Tumor samples were subjected to hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical analysis using Ki67, Bcl-xl, and p53 antibodies. Co-treated tumors showed a significant reduction in Ki67 and Bcl-xl expression as well as an increase in p53 expression compared with other treated tumors (P<0.05).