Growth inhibition of human leukemic cell lines by the phenothiazine derivative fluphenazine.

The effect of the phenothiazine derivative fluphenazine has been studied in the human leukemic T-cell line H33-HJ JA1, which is an Interleukin-2 (IL-2) producing cell line derived from Jurkat cells. This cell line shows a highly proliferative activity in response to the autocrine produced IL-2. The phenothiazine fluphenazine (1-10 microM) inhibited this proliferation in a dose-dependent manner, as evidenced by the incorporation of (3H)-Thymidine. In analogy, growth inhibition by fluphenazine has been investigated in the human myeloblastic HL-60 cell line. The spontaneous growth of this cell line was also inhibited by fluphenazine at pharmacologically relevant micromolar concentrations. These results suggest that the use of phenothiazines might be helpful in antileukemic regimens.