Potential therapeutic role of cisplatinum in autologous bone marrow transplantation: in vitro eradication of neuroblastoma cells from bone marrow.

Cisplatinum may prove to be a valuable agent for the elimination of diseased cells in the bone marrow of patients with neuroblastoma. In this study, we measured the efficacy of cisplatinum on human neuroblastoma cell lines and on normal human bone marrow progenitors, GM-CFC and CFU-F. Data indicate that the therapeutic index of cisplatinum is high. We set up an experimental model consisting of a mixture of human bone marrow and human neuroblastoma cells in order to confirm these preliminary results in purging conditions. Results indicate that cisplatinum exhibits a high and specific tumoricidal property and appears to be valid in bone marrow purging.