Fig. 6
Iodide therapy studies after dual-targeting of EGFR and cMET. The therapeutic effect of the dual-targeted NIS gene therapy approach after application of 131I was assessed. Three weeks after tumor cell inoculation, mice received three cycles of polyplexes for dual-targeting i.v., followed by i.p. injections of 55.5 MBq 131I (n = 8). Control mice received saline instead of the therapeutic iodide (n = 8). Animals treated with polyplexes for dual-targeting that received radioiodide showed reduced tumor growth during and after therapy (a, b) assessed by conventional sonography in comparison to animals that received saline instead (a, c) (*p ≤ 0.05). This was accompanied by significantly enhanced survival in the therapy group (d) (*p ≤ 0.05). Immunofluorescence analysis of tumors after therapy revealed reduced proliferation (Ki67, green) and blood vessel density (CD31, red) in mice that received the cytotoxic iodide compared to tumors of mice treated with saline (e). Results are reported as mean ± SEM or percent for the survival plot
