International journal of cancer. Journal international du cancer
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Hypoxia and dysfunctional tumor vessels represent a prominent feature of pancreatic cancer, being, at least in part, responsible for chemotherapy resistance and immune suppression in these tumors. We tested whether the increase of oxygen delivery induced in vivo by myo-inositol trispyrophosphate (ITPP) can reverse hypoxia, control tumor growth and improve chemotherapy response. Tumor size, metastatic development (microcomputed tomography scan follow-up) and the survival of rats and nude or NOD. ⋯ Growth of human pancreatic tumor xenografts was strongly inhibited by administration of ITPP. ITPP exploits a two-stage mechanism causing rapid, early and sustainable late stage normoxia. This is due to the angiogenic factor modulation and vascular normalization, leading to enhanced chemotherapy delivery and synergistic life prolongation, on combination with low doses of gemcitabine.