Comparison of WI-38 and NIH/3T3 Cells as Standards for the Evaluation of the Inhibition of Pancreatic Cancer Cell Lines by Organotin Polymers Containing Histamine and Phentolamine

摘要

INTRODUCTION We investigated a number of organotin polymers derived from different drugs. Here we report results for two drugs that contain aromatic units. Pancreatic cancer afflicts close to 32,000 individuals each year in the United States and 168,000 worldwide, and nearly all patients die from the ravages of their disease within 3 to 6 months after detection. Treatment of pancreatic cancer is rarely successful as this disease typically metastasizes widely prior to detection. Current therapies consist of surgery and, possibly, radiation and chemotherapy. Standard chemotherapy for patients with locally contained cancer includes gemcitabine. Gemcitabine has been demonstrated to improve the quality of life through better pain control, adequate performance status, decreased analgesic consumption, shrinkage of tumor, and prolonged survival. Radiation therapy is usually ineffective except as an adjunct to chemotherapy or as a palliative measure. Combination therapy is showing some promise and investigators at M. D. Anderson report that combining the drug cromolyn with the chemotherapy agent gemcitabine is nearly three times better at retarding growth of pancreatic tumors in mice compared to chemotherapy alone.