In vitro sensitivity of leukemic clonogenic cells to four anthracyclines (adriamycin, daunorubicin, rubidazone and aclacinomycin) in human acute myeloid leukemia.

We used an in vitro clonogenic assay in semi-solid medium to test the sensitivity of human leukemic progenitors to different anthracyclines. Bone marrow leukemic cells of 19 patients with acute myeloid leukemia were plated after exposure to adriamycin (ADR), daunorubicin (DNR), rubidazone (RDZ) and aclacinomycin (ACLA). We obtained a dose-dependent response curve with all anthracyclines, with wide response curve with all anthracyclines, with wide patient to patient variations. In 9 out of 19 cases, in vitro sensitivity to the four drugs correlated (4 sensitive and 5 resistant cases), but in 10 patients the results were discordant, with 8 conflicting results between ADR and the other three anthracyclines, raising the possibility of the absence of cross-resistance between these drugs.