Effects of neocarzinostatin upon the development of tumors from murine neuroblastoma cells.

The use of differentiation-inducing agents has been proposed for the purging of bone marrow and for the treatment of minimal residual disease prior to autologous bone marrow transplantation in patients with metastatic neuroblastoma. The present studies examine the effects of the enediyne differentiation inducer neocarzinostatin (NCS) on tumor development from subcutaneous implants of murine (Neuro-2A) neuroblastoma cells. Prior in vitro treatment with NCS results in a concentration- and drug exposure time-dependent decrease in the incidence of tumors from subcutaneously implanted cells. In vivo treatment results in a dose-dependent decrease in the rate of tumor growth. These results imply that enediynes such as NCS may be useful in ex vivo purging regimens and in in vivo treatment of microscopic residual disease in patients with neuroblastoma.