Efficacy of treatment of colon, lung and breast human carcinoma xenograftswith: Doxorubicin, cisplatin, irinotecan or topotecan

Given that human cancer xenografts tend to retain chemosensitivities simila r to the cancerous tissue of origin, human carcinoma xenografts grown in nu de mice were tested for sensitivity to four drug protocols: doxorubicin at 5 mg/kg, i.v., q5d; irinotecan at 60 mg/kg, Lv., q4d; cisplatin 5 mg/kg, i. p., q7d; and topotecan 1.5 mg/kg, p.o., qd (5 of 7 days). Irinotecan and do xorubicin protocols either halted or caused significant regression of the b reast cancer cell lines (MCF7, MDA-MB 231 and T47D). None of the protocols tested resulted in significant regression in the lung cancer xenografts (H4 60, A549 and H226) although both irinotecan and doxorubicin did halt growth of the H226 xenograft. The ability of the irinotecan treatment to cause re gression of xenograft size in all three colon cancer cell lines (SW620, COL O205 and HT29) justifies further clinical trials of irinotecan as an especi ally promising drug for the treatment of colon cancer.