Fig. 1. Cold exposure suppresses xenograft and genetic spontaneous tumour growth, prolongs the overall survival of tumour-bearing mice and alters the TME.
a, Tumour growth of mouse CRC under 30 °C and 4 °C conditions. n = 8 mice per group. T/C = ratio of tumour growth in the treated group versus control group. b, Overall survival of CRC-tumour-bearing mice. n = 6 mice per group. c, Immunofluorescence staining of CRC tumours for CA9+ hypoxic area, Ki-67+ proliferating cells, CD31+ microvessels and cleaved caspase 3 (Cl-Casp3)+ apoptotic cells. The arrows and arrowheads indicate the respective positive signals. Tumour tissues were counterstained with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). Scale bars, 50 μm. d, Quantitative analysis of the positive signals shown in c. n = 5 or 10 random fields per group. e, Tumour growth rates and tumour incidences of spontaneous breast cancer in the MMTV-PyMT model under the 30 °C and 4 °C conditions. n = 10 mice per group. f, Experimental schematic, intestinal adenoma morphology, colon weights, polyp numbers, average polyp sizes and polyp size distribution in the Apcmin/+ model under the 30 °C and 4 °C conditions. n = 8 mice per group. The arrows indicate polyps. Scale bar, 5 mm. RT, room temperature; w, weeks. For a and d–f, data are mean ± s.e.m. For a and d–f, statistical analysis was performed using two-sided unpaired t-tests. NS, not significant.