Figure 6.

In vivo antitumor efficacy of Gel-IFN + T cells + LDI on BALB/c nude mice bearing MKN-45 gastric cancer cells. When the tumors reached an average volume of 200 mm³, the mice were randomized into five groups as follows: (1) Control (normal saline), (2) IFN-α2b alone (6 × 10⁵ IU, subcutaneous injection, day 3), (3) LDI (5 Gy, day 1) + T cells (5×10⁶ cells, day 2), (4) LDI + T cells + IFN-α2b, (5) LDI + T cells + Gel-IFN (subcutaneous implantation). (A) Inhibition of MKN-45 xenograft tumor growth by LDI + T cells + Gel-IFN in comparison with various formulations. (B) The tumor weights on day 13 following different treatments. (C) The tumor photographs of different groups. (D) H&E staining of tumors after anticancer treatments (magnification: 200×). Data are expressed as mean ± SD (n=5), *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01 versus control group, ^#P < 0.05 and ^##P < 0.01 versus free IFN-α2b group, ▪P < 0.05 versus LDI + T cells group. The black arrows indicated the necrosis area. Scale bar = 100µm.

Abbreviations: IFN, interferon; T, thymus; RT, radiation; LDI, low-dose irradiation; H&E, hematoxylin–eosin.