title: In vitro evidence for dose-dependent cytotoxicity as the predominant effect of low dose Ara-C on human leukemic and normal marrow cells.
abstract: To determine whether cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) has a differentiating effect in vitro, marrow cells from nine patients with acute non-lymphocytic leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome and eight non-leukemic controls were exposed to drug concentrations comparable to those achieved in vivo with low-dose Ara-C therapy. In soft agar cultures, the predominant effect of Ara-C at concentrations between 10(-8) M and 10(-6) M was cytotoxicity with a dose-dependent decrement in Colony Forming Unit of the granulocyte and monocyte lineage (CFUg/m) at 14 days. Growth in liquid cultures containing Giant Cell Tumor(GCT)-conditioned media without Ara-C resulted in a significant increment in the recovery of mature cells at day 10 from the non-leukemic cultures (P = 0.03), while only a minor increase was found in the leukemic cultures (P = 0.09). All liquid cultures exposed to greater than or equal to 10(-9) M Ara-C showed a marked reduction in the immature proliferating cell pool, with a concomitant increase in the percentage of mature non-dividing cells at 10 days. However, the absolute number of differentiated cells recovered remained constant or decreased in all non-leukemic and eight of nine leukemic cultures, compared with cultures without Ara-C. Enhanced recovery of differentiated cells was also never observed in any culture exposed to the relatively non-toxic 10(-9) M Ara-C. These in vitro findings support clinical observations suggesting that cytotoxicity rather than differentiation is the major mechanism involved in the therapeutic effect of low-dose Ara-C in acute leukemia and myelodysplasia.
authors.affiliation: Hematology Section, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Washington, DC, 20422.
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Schechter
mesh_terms: D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000187:drug effects*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D003561:Cytarabine