Abstract
Background: Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) are essential for normal hematopoiesis, but also support the growth and survival of malignant hematopoietic cells. There are currently no data available regarding the sensitivity of BMSCs to cytotoxic drugs widely used in the therapy of hematological diseases such as multiple myeloma or acute leukemia. Materials and Methods: The chemosensitivity of the BMSC line HS-5 and of primary BMSCs from patients were evaluated in comparison to NCI-H929 myeloma and U937 leukemia cells. Results: Both HS-5 cells and human BMSCs showed substantial cell death in response to chemotherapy. While alkylating agents (melphalan, treosulfan) and doxorubicin demonstrated marked BMSC toxicity, nucleotide analogs (gemcitabine, cytarabine) induced only limited BMSC apoptosis. Conclusion: Our data suggest that the BMSC toxicity of cytotoxic compounds should be considered in chemotherapeutic regimens.
Footnotes
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↵* R.S. and P.B. contributed equally to this work.
- Received August 10, 2005.
- Accepted October 17, 2005.
- Copyright© 2006 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved