Radiation therapy-induced tumor invasiveness is associated with SDF-1-regulated macrophage mobilization and vasculogenesis

Radiation therapy (RT) remains the front-line treatment for high-grade gliomas; however, tumor recurrence remains the main obstacle for the clinical success of RT. Using a murine astrocytoma tumor cell line, ALTS1C1, the present study demonstrates that whole brain irradiation prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing mice, although the mice eventually died associated with increased tumor infiltration. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis indicated that RT decreased the microvascular density (MVD) of the primary tumor core, but increased the MVD of the tumor invasion front. RT also increased the number of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and the expression of stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) at the tumor invasion front. SDF-1 expression suppressed by siRNA (SDFkd tumors) showed a decrease in RT-enhanced tumor invasiveness, leading to prolonged survival of mice bearing these tumors. The invasion front in SDFkd tumors showed a lower MVD and TAM density than that in the islands of the control or irradiated ALTS1C1 tumors. Our results indicate that tumor-secreted SDF-1 is one key factor in RT-induced tumor invasiveness, and that it exerts its effect likely through macrophage mobilization and tumor revascularization.