Fig. 3

Antioxidants NAC and GSH promoted growth and progression of human HCC cells in vivo. a MHCC-97L-derived orthotopic HCC xenograft tumor model. b MHCC-97L-derived tumors and their tumor masses. c Representative flow cytometry histogram and quantification of the intracellular ROS levels in control, low-dose and high-dose NAC treated tumors. d Representative H&E sections of livers and lungs. Arrows indicate irregular tumor growth fronts. Venous invasion of HCC tumor cells is also shown (far right) (Scale bars: 250 μm). e MHCC-97L-derived orthotopic HCC xenograft tumors and their tumor masses with low- and high-dose GSH treatment after tumor onset in nude mice. f Representative flow cytometry histogram (left) and quantification (right) of ROS levels in control, low-dose and high-dose GSH treated tumors. g Representative H&E sections of livers and lungs. Arrows indicate tumor cells found in lung tissues (lower). The frequencies of metastatic foci in the lungs were represented by the numbers of tumor cells/foci per 10 high power fields (400 × magnification) under the microscope (Scale bars: 250 μm). Data are expressed as mean ± SD. *P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 vs. control, (B-G: one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett comparison test)