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Selective sensitivity of solid tumors to suramin in primary cultures of tumor cells from patients
Author(s) -
Csoka Katalin,
Nygren Peter,
Graf Wilhelm,
Påhlman Lars,
Glimelius Bengt,
Larsson Rolf
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910630309
Subject(s) - suramin , solid tumor , primary (astronomy) , tumor cells , cancer research , medicine , chemistry , pathology , biology , oncology , cancer , receptor , physics , astronomy
The antineoplastic activity of suramin is currently the subject of clinical trials. We therefore used the semi‐automated fluoro‐metric microculture cytotoxicity assay (FMCA) to evaluate the cytotoxicity of suramin in vitro in primary cultures of cells from patients with hematological or solid tumors. The activity patterns of some standard cytotoxic agents were included for comparison. A total of 159 samples were tested using continuous drug exposure. Suramin showed relatively high activity against solid tumors, with colorectal, adrenal and kidney carcinomas being the most sensitive, whereas hematological malignancies were more resistant. Suramin and standard drugs showed very low cross‐resistance. The results indicate that suramin is differentially active against some solid tumors with comparatively little activity against hematological tumors. The study provides an experimental motive for evaluation of suramin therapy in patients with solid tumors and exploration of less toxic suramin analogues.