Drug Sensitivity of Acute Refractory Leukemia Cells to Chemotherapeutic Agents

Objective To study the drug sensitivity of acute refractory leukemia cells to 13 chemotherapeutic agents in vitro. Methods 37 bone marrow specimens from patients with acute refractory leukemia were collected from which leukemia cells were separated for the preparation of leukemic cell suspensions .The drug sensitivity of the leukemic cells to 13 chemotherapeutic agents was assayed with the MTT methods and the rates of inhibition of these agents on the different leukemic cells were determined. Results Acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) cells and acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) cells were sensitive to etoposida (VP-16) and cylosine arabinoside(Ara-C) but not to daunorubicin(DNP),epirubicin(EPI),pirarubicin(THP),cisplatin(DDP) and mytomycin(MMC).The rate of inhibition of teniposide(VM-26) and etoposide(VP-16) on ALL cells was higher that on ANLL cells .In contrast ,the rate of inhibition of mitoxantrone(MIT) on ANLL cells was higher than that on ALL cells. Conclusion In general, acute refractory leukemia should be submitted to a chemotherapeutic plan containing VP-16 and Ara-c. ALL could better be treated with a chemotherapeutic plan containing VM-26 and VR-16 while ANLL should be treated with a chemotherapeutic plan containing MIT.