Effects of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist on rat ovarian adenocarcinoma cell lines in vitro and in vivo

To evaluate the biologic effects of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist buserelin on rat ovarian adenocarcinoma cells in vivo and in vitro, female Wistar rats with primary ovarian adenocarcinoma induced by 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) and the DMBA-OC-1 cell line established from a DMBA-induced rat tumor were used in this study. In vivo, daily administration of buserelin significantly suppressed the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and progesterone as compared with controls. Buserelin did not inhibit the growth of DMBA-induced tumors. However, histopathologically, there was increased central necrosis and a decrease in the number of neoplastic cells, with proliferation of connective tissue, in the group treated with buserelin. In vitro, FSH-induced proliferation of DMBA-OC-1 cells was suppressed by buserelin. Thus, this basic experimental study supports the potential use of a GnRH agonist to suppress the growth of ovarian cancer.