Fig. 4

Effect of anti-interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor monoclonal antibody on 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment of mixed xenograft tumors derived from cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). a The panels show representative images of the samples from each group. The arrows indicate the days on which the treatment was administered. b A line graph displaying the comparison of tumor growth among the in vivo xenograft tumors derived from MKN-1 cells alone (n = 5) and MKN-1 cells combined with CAFs (n = 5) after 5-FU treatments, and xenograft tumors derived from MKN-1 cells combined with CAFs (n = 5) treated simultaneously with 5-FU and tocilizumab. c A line graph showing the changes in body weight among the three groups of mice. d The photographs show the tumor-bearing mice before euthanasia and the harvested tumors. e The column graph comparing the harvested tumor weights among the three groups. The graphs show the mean (± SEM) tumor weights of the mice. ^*P < 0.05 and ^**P < 0.001, according to Mann-Whitney test. f Representative micrographs of the tumors harvested from the mice in the three groups; the tumor samples were analyzed by H&E staining and immunohistochemical staining for α-SMA and cleaved caspase-3. Scale bar = 100 μm