title: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is highly sensitive to vinorelbine in Vitro.
abstract: The vinorelbine sensitivity of eight recently established head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cell lines was tested using the 96-well plate clonogenic assay. The chemosensitivity of these head and neck SCC cell lines to vinorelbine expressed as IC50, corresponding to the drug concentration causing 50% inhibition in clonogenic survival, varied between 0.6 and 1.0 nM. The dose-dependent growth inhibition caused by vinorelbine was measured in three of these cell lines. A clear growth inhibition was observed at a concentration of 3 nM. The same cell lines were studied with flow cytometry. When exposed to 3 nM and 5 nM vinorelbine, an accumulation of the cells in the G2/M-phase was observed in all cultures after 12 hours. The morphological changes induced by 3 nM and 5 nM vinorelbine to the UT-SCC-33 cell line were analysed with time-lapse video microscopy. In the cultures treated with 5 nM vinorelbine, the cells stayed mitotically arrested for 2-32 hours and thereafter died morphologically by apoptosis. These results indicate that, in vitro, the head and neck SCC is consistently sensitive to vinorelbine, which blocks the cell cycle in G2/M, the most radiosensitive phase. These encouraging results suggest that vinorelbine may potentially be used in conjunction with radiotherapy in the treatment of head and neck SCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Turku University, Central Hospital, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Kaisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Erjala
authors.forename: Jaakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pulkkinen
authors.forename: Jarmo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kulmala
authors.forename: Kalle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alanen
authors.forename: Reidar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grenman
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D016195:G2 Phase / Q000187:drug effects; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D008297:Male; D008938:Mitosis / Q000187:drug effects; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014747:Vinblastine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000077235:Vinorelbine
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D014747:Vinblastine; D000077235:Vinorelbine