Single and combination treatment with vitamin K3 and adriamycin: in vitro effects on cell survival and DNA damage in human chronic myeloid leukemia cells.

Abstract

Utility of drug response modulators to increase therapeutic:toxic ratio of anticancer drugs in the treatment of refractory malignancies is becoming desirable. In this study, we have attempted to potentiate the tumor cell killing ability of Adriamycin (ADR) against chronic myeloid leukemia cells (CML), in the presence of vitamin K3. Cell growth was evaluated by the MTT assay and the 3H-thymidine incorporation inhibition assay. A highly significant (p less than 0.001) inhibition of cell survival and 3H-thymidine incorporation was effected in CML cells exposed to the combination of ADR and vitamin K3. When the CML cells were treated with ADR and vitamin K3 simultaneously, a greater fragmentation of the intact DNA was revealed as observed by the enhanced formation of DNA single strand breaks. Results demonstrate the therapeutic significance of employing vitamin K3 as an adjuvant in CML chemotherapy with ADR.