Ellen N. Spremulli

Heterogeneity of cancer cells from a single human colon carcinoma

The human colon carcinoma cell line DLD-1, established from tumor tissue obtained from a 45 year old white man with an adenocarcinoma of the sigmoid colon, was studied from the perspective of tumor heterogeneity. The karyotype and morphology of cells from an early passage DLD-1 culture, as well as the histologic features of both the original tumor and neoplasms produced by inoculation of athymic nude mice with DLD-1 cells, indicated that both the DLD-1 cell line and the original tumor were heterogeneous. Two clones were isolated from the DLD-1 line; they differed in their morphology, karyotype, and cloning efficiency in soft agar. Furthermore, when cells from each clone were injected into athymic mice, histologically distinct tumors were produced. Various analyses showed that the two cloned lines were representative of the two subpopulations predominantly responsible for the heterogeneity of the original neoplasm. In vitro drug screening results demonstrated that the two cloned lines have differential sensitivities to chemotherapeutic agents. The parent DLD-1 human colon carcinoma cell line and its two cloned subpopulations provide material for the study of various aspects and implications of human cancer cell heterogeneity.

Response of a human colon adenocarcinoma (DLD-1) to X irradiation and mitomycin C in vivo

Mice hosting a heterogeneous human colon xenograft tumor produced by subcutaneous injection of the DLD-1 tumor cell line were treated either with x irradiation alone, with mitomycin C alone (4 mg/kg), or with x irradiation given two hours after intraperitoneal injection of mitomycin C (4 mg/kg). Radiation alone produced a dose dependent delay in the time needed for tumors to regrow to twice their size at the time of irradiation, and in the mice receiving mitomycin C plus x irradiation, an additional growth delay equivalent to that produced by 3-3.5 Gy of X rays was seen at all X ray dose levels. As the DLD-1 tumor xenografts do not appear to possess a significant hypoxic fraction, we conclude that the two agents are acting in a simple additive cytotoxic manner by the killing of oxic tumor cells.

Phase I trial of the combination of 6-methylmercaptopurine riboside and 5-fluorouracil.

Abstract6-Methylmercaptopurine riboside (MMPR) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) were administered sequentially to 12 patients in a phase I clinical trial. Toxicities included mild nausea and vomiting, as well as reversible leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. Maximal accumulation of 6-methylmercaptopurine ribonucleoside 5′-monophosphate (MMPR-P), the active metabolite of MMPR, in patients’ erythrocytes occurred between 2 and 6 h after the administration of MMPR and the degree of accumulation was dose-related. At 96 h after MMPR administration, MMPR-P was still detectable in patients’ erythrocytes. Although no clinical responses were documented, a modified dosage schedule of these drugs should be pursued based on the pharmacokinetic data obtained.