Enhancement of hormonal synchronization and 5-fluorouracil cytotoxicity in breast cancer cells by low concentration of thymidine.
A method is described that applies a low concentration of thymidine to achieve maximal hormonal synchronization in cultures of an established human breast cancer cell line, MCF-7. The method consists of sequential treatments with tamoxifen, estradiol, and thymidine. The increase (3.8 fold) in the S-phase fraction achieved by this method is higher than that (2.6 fold) achieved by a solely published method using tamoxifen block plus estradiol rescue. The MCF-7 cells, which have an enhanced labeling index (S-phase fraction) after being treated with the synchronizing method, have a markedly increased sensitivity to an S-phase-specific cytotoxic agent, 5-fluorouracil. This method may have potentially important implications for clinical chemotherapeutic strategy in the treatment of breast cancer.
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004958:Estradiol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013936:Thymidine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013997:Time Factors
D013629:Tamoxifen; D004958:Estradiol; D005472:Fluorouracil; D013936:Thymidine