S Hegewisch-Becker — Page 3

PubMed1990

Colony-stimulating factors (rhG-CSF, rhGM-CSF, rhIL-3, and BCGF) recruit myeloblastic and lymphoblastic leukemic cells and enhance the cytotoxic effects of cytosine-arabinoside.

Prognostic models for acute myeloid and lymphoid leukemias are presented that demonstrate that cell kinetic quiescence in acute leukemia is associated with poor response to chemotherapy, short remission duration, and survival. Recruitment of cells into the cell cycle should therefore enhance cytotoxic effects of cell cycle - specific chemotherapeutic agents. We previously demonstrated recruitment of myeloid leukemic cells by cytokines. We have now investigated whether recruitment can be used to increase cell killing by cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C). Blast cells from 16 acute leukemias were stimulated with cytokines as follows: 13 acute myeloid leukemias (AML) and 3 chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in blastic phase (1 lymphoid, 2 myeloid) were treated with recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF), recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF, AMGEN, 500 U/ml each), and recombinant human interleukin-3 (rhIL-3, IMMUNEX, 20 ng/ml), alone and in combination. After 48 h, at the time of maximal DNA synthesis, Ara-C (10(-3) M) was added and cell counts, cytokinetics (DNA/RNA, DNA/bromodeoxyuridine and DNA/Ki67 flow cytometry), and cell viability/clonogenicity (fluorescein diacetate/propidium iodide exclusion flow cytometry) were investigated. In all 13 cases of AML recruitment was found; in 6 of these cases over a three fold increase in S phase (P = 0.008) and a significant (P = 0.004) depletion of G0 was demonstrated. In 9 of 13 patients with AML, the effect of Ara-C was investigated, and in 3 of 5 patients with over three fold increase in S phase, Ara-C toxicity was enhanced. None of the patients with less than a three fold increase in S phase and no demonstrable recruitment from G0 had increased Ara-C cytotoxicity. Ara-C cytoreduction was paralled by reduction in clonogenicity as demonstrated by fluorescein diacetate/propidium iodide (FDA/PI) flow cytometry. Four samples of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were treated with low molecular weight B-cell growth factor (15 kDa) and recruitment of aneuploid cells from G0 to G1 was found in all patients (from 19.3% to 84.9%). These results indicate that recruitment of leukemic cells is inducible by cytokines and that the cytotoxicity of cell cycle-specific drugs such as Ara-C can be increased. This concept is presently being tested in vivo.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Prolongation of medium exchange is associated with a decrease in function but not expression of the P-glycoprotein pump in leukaemic cells.

Daunorubucin (DNR) accumulation studies as functional tests of the multidrug resistance (MDR1) gene product P-glycoprotein have produced diverging results when correlated to response to chemotherapy in acute leukaemia. To investigate possible reasons for this diversity a starvation experiment, based upon prolongation of medium exchange, was set up in the multidrug resistant cell line CEM/VBL100. DNR accumulation (1 microgram/ml) was measured flow cytometrically in the presence or absence of Verapamil (10 micromol/l). In cells permanently kept under ideal growth conditions, addition of Verapamil resulted in an average 90% increase in DNR enhancement in five successive experiments. In contrast, DNR accumulation increased by only 26% when the medium exchange was prolonged by 30 h to 42 h. This effect was not accompanied by changes in the MDR1 gene expression at the RNA or protein level. Consequently, 53 leukaemic blast samples of 30 newly diagnosed and 18 relapsed or refractory patients with acute leukaemia (ALL-18, AML-37) were processed without any delay and under the most stringent conditions possible. Evidence of the classical MDR phenotype was arbitrarily defined by a greater than 20% enhancement in DNR accumulation in response to Verapamil (10 micromol/l) or Cyclosporin A (3 micromol/l). Using this cutoff point for analysis of newly diagnosed leukaemia we found DNR uptake better correlated to response to treatment (p = 0.002) than P-gp detection by means of immunocytochemistry, using a panel of monoclonal antibodies (p = 0.03). We conclude that DNR accumulation studies are a sensitive method for predicting therapy outcome in acute leukaemia when performed with necessary precautions.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem↗