Combination chemotherapy of Rauscher leukemia and ascites tumors by narcissus alkaloid with standard drugs and effect on cellular immunity.

The therapeutic activity of the narcissus residual alkaloid A-2 against Rauscher leukemia has been compared with 10 standard anticancer drugs, and synergistic or additive combination pairs have been selected using a viral leukemia and two transplantable tumor systems. An increased beneficial effect has been demonstrated by a combination of the alkylating and DNA-binding agents and the alkaloid against the three malignant tumors, while a beneficial effect by combining the alkaloid and the antimetabolites (either 6-MP or 5-azacytidine) was seen only against the viral leukemia. The alkaloid has no suppressive activity against cellular immunity as tested by PHA reactivity and allogeneic tumor rejection systems.