Triple combination of retinoic acid, low concentration of cytarabine and dimethylformamide induces differentiation of human acute myeloid leukaemic blasts

• Published in: Chemotherapy (Basel) Vol. 36; no. 1; p. 51
• Main Authors: Hassan, H T, Rees, J K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 1990
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic - drug effects; Cytarabine - administration & dosage; Dimethylformamide - administration & dosage; Humans; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute - drug therapy; Tretinoin - administration & dosage
• ISSN: 0009-3157
• DOI: 10.1159/000238748

Differentiation induction therapy provides an alternative for treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) who are either unsuitable for or unresponsive to conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy. The effect of a triple combination of retinoic acid (RA) + low concentration of cytarabine (Ara-C) + dimethylformamide (DMF) on the differentiation of blasts from 24 AML patients was studied. Nonadherent mononuclear cells were cultured at a concentration of 5 x 10(5) cells/ml in 24-well tissue culture plates containing RPMI 1640 culture medium with 20% fetal calf serum, 10% autologous serum and 10% 5637-conditioned medium and incubated with 10(-6) M RA, 10(-6) M Ara-C and/or 100 mM DMF alone and in combination with each other for 6 days in primary culture at 37 degrees C in a humidified incubator under 5% CO2. The triple combination of 10(-6) M RA + 10(-6) M Ara-C + 100 mM DMF induced 90% of blasts from 22 out of 24 AML patients to differentiate. These highly effective results justify a clinical trial of this triple combination for AML patients who are either unsuitable for or unresponsive to conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy.