Effects of fluorouracil, doxorubicin and FAM combination on human peritoneal macrophages.

The effects of fluorouracil and adriamycin as single drugs and in combination with mitomycin (FAM) on the phagocytosis of tissue macrophages were studied in vitro. Human peritoneal macrophages (HPM) from cancer patients or uremic patients on peritoneal dialysis were incubated with the test drugs. No apparent inhibition of the adherence, engulfment or total phagocytosis of yeast cells was found with the fluorescence quenching technique. This is in contrast to our previous findings on blood monocytes. Thus the heterogeneity in sensitivity to anticancer drugs is probably related to cell maturity and cell surface characteristics.