flunarizine and Carcinoma

Flunarizine and nicotinamide have previously been shown to increase blood perfusion to experimental mouse tumors and consequently, to increase their sensitivity to X rays. These agents were examined for their ability to alter metabolism, measured by 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy, in the SCCVII/Ha carcinoma and the KHT sarcoma. Flunarizine at 5 mg/kg I.P. produced a 45% reduction in the ratio of inorganic phosphate to total phosphate (Pi/total) in the SCCVII/Ha tumor but only a 24% reduction in this ratio in the KHT tumor. These effects were seen 45 min after drug administration, and ratios returned to control levels by 90 min. In the SCCVII/Ha tumor, nicotinamide at 1000 mg/kg I.P. reduced Pi/total by 56% from 30 min to at least 2 hr after injection, and the ratio was reduced by 59% in the KHT tumor at 30 min after injection, returning to control levels by 2 hr. For the SCCVII/Ha tumor, the time course for the effects of flunarizine and nicotinamide on the inorganic phosphate ratio coincided with that previously reported for radiosensitization.

Topics: Animals; Carcinoma; Female; Flunarizine; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; Niacinamide; Phosphorus; Radiation-Sensitizing Agents; Sarcoma, Experimental