title: Doxorubicin plus tumor necrosis factor alpha combination treatments in EL4-lymphoma-bearing C57BL/6 mice.
abstract: The therapeutic efficacy of a total of 42 single-agent or combination protocols involving doxorubicin (Adriamycin, ADM) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) were evaluated in the syngeneic murine lymphoma model, C57BL/6-EL4. Combination treatments were the most effective and the therapeutic effects were schedule-dependent; e.g. it was generally advantageous for ADM to precede TNFalpha administration. Two protocols selected for further study were 4 mg/kg ADM i.v. on days 1 and 8 plus TNFalpha, i.v., at either 16000 U (7 microg)/injection, on days 1 and 8 or 4000 U (1.7 microg)/injection, on days 11-15. Survival of mice bearing one of four EL4 sublines having different in vitro drug sensitivities was assessed. These sublines were E10 (ADM-sensitive/TNFalpha-resistant), E16 (sensitive/sensitive), ER2 (ADM-resistant/TNFalpha-sensitive) and ER13 (resistant/resistant). Between 80% and 100% long-term survivors (i.e. tumor free on day 60) were obtained with the two treatments in mice bearing ADM-sensitive sublines, even though one of these sublines, E10, was resistant to TNFalpha in vitro. Induction of long-term survival appeared, therefore, to correlate with in vitro defined sensitivity/resistance to ADM, but not to TNFalpha Treatment-induced modulations of tumoricidal immune effector functions were also examined. Taken together, the results indicated that induction of long-term survival involved complex interactions of: (1) ADM-induced tumor modifications, including, but not limited to, tumor debulking, (2) combination-treatment-induced modifications of splenic cytolytic T cell and macrophage activities, and (3) the restoration of thymus cellularity. Finally, when long-term survivors resulting from treatment of E10- or E16-bearing mice were implanted with ER2 on day 120, the majority survived, indicating that long-term immune memory, capable of recognizing drug resistant variants, had been established.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Grace Cancer Drug Center, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ehrke
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verstovsek
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ujházy
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Meer
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eppolito
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Maccubbin
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mihich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D015979:Killer Cells, Lymphokine-Activated / Q000276:immunology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D004317:Doxorubicin