Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008;25(8):903-11.
doi: 10.1007/s10585-008-9212-0. Epub 2008 Sep 24.

Inhibition of osteolytic bone metastasis by unfractionated heparin

Colin K Yee  1 , Martin Butcher, Melec Zeadin, Jeffrey I Weitz, Stephen G Shaughnessy
Affiliations

Inhibition of osteolytic bone metastasis by unfractionated heparin

Colin K Yee et al. Clin Exp Metastasis. 2008.

Abstract

In the current study, we examine heparin's anti-metastatic properties by using a well-defined mouse model of osteolytic bone metastasis. C57BL/6 mice were treated with increasing doses of unfractionated heparin (15, 20, or 25 units/mouse) 30 min prior to the left ventricular injection of GFP-transfected B16F10 melanoma cells. Heparin's effect on tumour burden and bone strength was then quantified 14 days later by bone histomorphometry and biomechanical testing, respectively. Based on histomorphometric analysis of the femurs, injection of GFP-transfected melanoma cells resulted in a 37% decrease in cancellous bone volume and a 68% increase in osteoclast surface. This was associated with a 13% reduction in bone strength as measured by biomechanical testing. However, when the mice were first pre-treated with 25 units of heparin, tumour burden was decreased by 73% and tumour cell-dependent decreases in both cancellous bone volume and bone strength were prevented. Based on these observations, we conclude that heparin inhibits the ability of tumour cells to metastasize to bone and that as such, prevents tumour cell-induced decreases in bone strength.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Nat Rev Cancer. 2002 Aug;2(8):584-93 - PubMed
    1. Clin Cancer Res. 2001 Dec;7(12):4122-9 - PubMed
    1. Nat Prod Rep. 2002 Jun;19(3):312-31 - PubMed
    1. Blood. 2004 Jul 15;104(2):397-401 - PubMed
    1. Cancer. 1994 Jul 1;74(1):38-45 - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources