Anticancer chemosensitivity changes between the original and recurrent tumors after successful chemotherapy selected according to the sensitivity assay.

OBJECTIVE

The authors compare and characterize the changes in chemosensitivity between the original tumors before chemotherapy and recurrent tumors after responses.

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA

The drug resistance in clinical chemotherapy appears to be different from that in experimental chemotherapy, and the profile and mechanisms of clinical drug resistance in recurrent tumors, especially after successful chemotherapy has scarcely been studied.

METHODS

Applied chemotherapies were selected out of four agents, cisplatin (CDDP), adriamycin (ADR), mitomycin-C (MMC) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), singly or in combinations by a DNA synthesis inhibition assay, by which the sensitivity of recurrent tumors was assessed. Responses were defined according to the standard criteria, and successful chemotherapy indicates complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) for solid tumors and complete disappearance for malignant effusion.

RESULTS

In 37 patients, the effectiveness of four agents were compared between before chemotherapy and after recurrence, and the response lasted between 2 and 26 months (mean +/- SD, 7.7 +/- 5.5). The results suggest that locally recurred tumors may become resistant to the agents previously administered; by contrast, distantly recurred tumors may not necessarily become resistant to the agents administered. The recurrent tumors are suggested to be sensitive to the agents as follows: locally recurrent solid tumors, 5-FU; distantly recurrent solid tumors, 5-FU and CDDP; locally recurrent effusion, CDDP; distantly recurrent effusion, ADR. Twenty-three of 37 recurrent tumors were re-treated with chemotherapies selected according to the sensitivity assay, singly or in combination with a biologic response modifier (BRM)--a streptococcal preparation, OK-432, or interferon-alpha. Responses were seen in 1 of 13 solid recurrent tumors and in 6 of 10 recurrent effusions. Responses were seen only when the patients were treated with a combination of chemotherapy and BRM.

CONCLUSION

There may be a notable differences in the basic biologic characteristics of tumor cells with respect to local versus distant recurrences, and between effusion versus solid recurrences. Various approaches, including a combination of chemotherapy and BRM, therefore, may have to be applied to overcome these drug resistances in practical chemotherapies for recurrent tumors.