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Apoptosis

Growth inhibition and synergistic induction of apoptosis by zoledronate and dexamethasone in human myeloma cell lines

Abstract

Bisphosphonates (BPs) are commonly used in the treatment of myeloma-associated osteolytic lesions. Recent reports have suggested that BPs may also exert direct antitumor effects on myeloma cells. Here, we show that the treatment of myeloma cell lines with the combination of the potent BP zoledronate and dexamethasone inhibits cell growth and synergistically induces apoptotic cell death, providing a rationale for potential applications in vivo.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by: Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC); Regione Calabria (POP 94/99); MURST-CNR Biotechnology Program L 95/95; MURST (Cofin 98) and Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Special Project Biotechnology). We are grateful to Dr B Klein (Molecular Genetics, CNRS, Montpellier Cedex, France) for the generous gift of the XG-1 cell line. We also thank Dr PO Eramo for the expert technical assistance.

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Tassone, P., Forciniti, S., Galea, E. et al. Growth inhibition and synergistic induction of apoptosis by zoledronate and dexamethasone in human myeloma cell lines. Leukemia 14, 841–844 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2401770

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