Fig. 1: Ferrichrome suppresses tumor growth and promotes antitumor immunity in a pancreatic cancer syngeneic mouse model.

a Chemical structure of ferrichrome (iron free) (deferrichrome). b Schematic representation of ferrichrome treatment regimen of UN-KC-6141 cells derived syngeneic mouse model of pancreatic cancer. One million syngenetic UN-KC-6141 pancreatic cancer cells were subcutaneously injected into the right flank of C57BL/6 J mice (n = 8). Ferrichrome was given five times per week intratumorally (50 µM) until day 25. Vehicle consisted of equivalent volume of 1X PBS. Mice were sacrificed at day 26. c Representative pictures of tumors resected at day 26 from ferrichrome or vehicle-treated mice. d The volumes of ferrichrome- and vehicle-treated tumors (n = 8). e Wet weights of UN-KC-6141 tumors treated with ferrichrome or vehicle (n = 8). f Body weights of mice treated with ferrichrome or vehicle (n = 5–8). g Representative H&E and immunohistochemistry images of, CD8, CD163 and pStat3 staining (n = 3–4), Original Magnifications ×400 (h) Quantification of CD8, CD163 and pStat3 positive cells per high power field in ferrichrome (maroon) or vehicle-treated tumors (black) (n = 3–4). Mean ± SEM shown. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, *** and p < 0.001, as determined by Student’s t test.