Evaluation of the Antitumor Activity of Platinum Nanoparticles in the Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Induced in Rats

Abstract

The liver is a vital organ that fulfils a wide range of functions, including detoxification of various metabolites, protein synthesis and the regulation of immune responses. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor that is the fifth most common type of cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related death globally. The rate of HCC has been increasing in Egypt with a doubling in the incidence rate in the past years. This has been attributed to several biological and environmental factors. Diethylnitrosamine (DEN) is found in a wide variety of foods such as cheese, soybeans, smoked, salted and dried fish, cured meat, alcoholic beverages as well as in ground water having a high level of nitrates. In rats, DEN is a potent hepatocarcinogen influencing the initiation stage of carcinogenesis during a period of enhanced cell proliferation accompanied by hepatocellular necrosis and induces DNA carcinogen adducts, DNA-strand breaks and in turn hepatocellular carcinoma without cirrhosis through the development of putative pre-neoplastic focal lesions.