Transport and phosphorylation as factors in the antitumor action of cytosine arabinoside.

Survival of mice bearing different transplantable leukemias and treated with cytosine arabinoside was compared with uptake and subsequent phosphorylation of the drug in vitro. Capacity for nucleotide formation was correlated with response and is apparently an important determinant of drug sensitivity. Drug uptake, although apparently mediated, was similar in all cell lines.