Pleural Fluid Has Pro-Growth Biological Properties Which Enable Cancer Cell Proliferation

Rachelle Asciak; Nikolaos I Kanellakis; Xuan Yao; Megat Abd Hamid; Rachel M Mercer; Maged Hassan; Eihab O Bedawi; Melissa Dobson; Peter Fsadni; Stephen Montefort; Tao Dong; Najib M Rahman; Ioannis Psallidas

doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.658395

Pleural Fluid Has Pro-Growth Biological Properties Which Enable Cancer Cell Proliferation

Front Oncol. 2021 Apr 28:11:658395. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.658395. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Rachelle Asciak^{1

2

3}, Nikolaos I Kanellakis^{1

2

4

5}, Xuan Yao^{5

6}, Megat Abd Hamid^{5

6}, Rachel M Mercer¹, Maged Hassan¹, Eihab O Bedawi¹, Melissa Dobson⁷, Peter Fsadni³, Stephen Montefort³, Tao Dong^{5

6}, Najib M Rahman^{1

2

4

7}, Ioannis Psallidas^{1

2

8}

Affiliations

¹ Oxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine, Churchill Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, United Kingdom.
² Laboratory of Pleural and Lung Cancer Translational Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
³ Mater Dei Hospital, Msida, Malta.
⁴ National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
⁵ Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Oxford Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
⁶ MRC Human Immunology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
⁷ Oxford Respiratory Trials Unit, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
⁸ Research and Early Development, Respiratory & Immunology, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Objectives: Patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) or pleural metastases often present with malignant pleural effusion (MPE). This study aimed to analyze the effect of pleural fluid on cancer cells.

Materials and methods: Established patient-derived cancer cell cultures derived from MPE (MPM, breast carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma) were seeded in 100% pleural fluid (exudate MPM MPE, transudate MPE, non-MPE transudate fluid) and proliferation was monitored. In addition, the establishment of new MPM cell cultures, derived from MPE specimens, was attempted by seeding the cells in 100% MPE fluid.

Results: All established cancer cell cultures proliferated with similar growth rates in the different types of pleural fluid. Primary MPM cell culture success was similar with MPE fluid as with full culture medium.

Conclusions: Pleural fluid alone is adequate for cancer cell proliferation in vitro, regardless of the source of pleural fluid. These results support the hypothesis that pleural fluid has important pro-growth biological properties, but the mechanisms for this effect are unclear and likely not malignant effusion specific.

Keywords: malignant pleural effusion (MPE); malignant pleural mesothelioma; pleural cancer; pleural fluid; pleural metastases.

Abstract

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