agar and Genital-Neoplasms--Female

To characterize in vitro activity of 2-fluoro-Ara AMP and its relation to the activities of cisplatin and doxorubicin, 28 specimens from patients wit gynecologic tumors (predominantly ovarian) were tested in a soft agar assay. Twenty-six of 28 (93%) grew when the medium was supplemented with four hormones (epidermal growth factor, hydrocortisone, estradiol-17, and insulin). Normal bone marrow cells were utilized as a biologic control to define in vitro concentrations of the three drugs. Tumors were exposed continuously to three different concentrations of each drug. 2-fluoro-Ara AMP was tested against 26 tumors, cisplatin against 24, and doxorubicin against 14. In vitro sensitivity was defined as greater than or equal to 50% colony inhibition at a drug concentration within the bone marrow inhibitory range. Seven of 26 (27%) tumor specimens were sensitive to 2-fluoro-Ara AMP. Among these, four tumors were derived from previously treated patients. However, in the 2-fluoro-Ara AMP concentration range (0.26 micrograms/ml to 0.78 micrograms/ml) tested, five of eight (62.5%) tumors from untreated patients achieved IC50 compared to only seven of 18 (39%) tumors from treated patients. Five of six (83%) specimens demonstrated cross-sensitivity between cisplatin and 2-fluoro-Ara AMP. Seventeen of 18 (94%) specimens demonstrated cross-resistance between cisplatin and 2-fluoro-Ara AMP, and 13 of 13 (100%) specimens demonstrated cross-resistance between 2-fluoro-Ara AMP and doxorubicin. A higher proportion of tumors from previously untreated patients achieved greater than or equal to 50% colony inhibition when exposed to 2-fluoro-Ara-AMP or cisplatin than did those from previously treated patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Agar; Arabinonucleotides; Bone Marrow Cells; Cisplatin; Clone Cells; Colony-Forming Units Assay; Culture Media; Culture Techniques; Doxorubicin; Female; Genital Neoplasms, Female; Humans; Ovarian Neoplasms; Vidarabine Phosphate

In vitro growth of tumor cells may provide a way of testing the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of cancer. In 1980 and 1981, operations for gynecologic malignancy were performed on 610 Mayo Clinic patients, and malignant tissue and fluids were obtained from 204 cancers that involved the vulva, uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. These yielded 76 clonogenic stem-cell preparations; and various chemotherapeutic agents were tested against these 76 tumors on soft agar. Considered in this study were the overall process of culturing the samples of tumors and, especially, the data from the preparations that showed sufficient growth of tumor cells for testing. Our guiding concerns were the usefulness of this method to gynecologists and the possible benefits to patients.

Topics: Agar; Antineoplastic Agents; Carcinoma; Clone Cells; Culture Media; Drug Resistance; Female; Genital Neoplasms, Female; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; Ovarian Neoplasms

The frequency of M-components was studied by agar gel electrophoresis in sera from 807 patients, 467 (57%) females and 340 (43%) males with histologically proven solid malignant neoplasms.M-components were found in the sera of 40 male and 20 female patients. Apart from two known cases of multiple myeloma and one case of Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia, none of the patients were found to be suffering from these diseases. The frequency of M-components increased with age, and this was more evident in males. Twenty-two of 60 patients with M-components did not exhibit abnormalities on immunoelectrophoresis. Of the 35 remaining patients, 27 had an abnormal component of the IgG class, 6 of the IgA and 2 of the IgM class. M-components were found in the sera of patients with a wide variety of neoplasms. There appeared to be no evidence of an increased frequency of M-components in the sera of patients with solid malignant neoplasms compared with normal adult population.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Agar; Aged; Child; Electrophoresis; Female; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Genital Neoplasms, Female; Humans; Immunoelectrophoresis; Immunoglobulin A; Immunoglobulin G; Immunoglobulin M; Immunoglobulins; Lung Neoplasms; Male; Middle Aged; Multiple Myeloma; Neoplasms; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms; Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia