Carcinostatic activity of 4-hydroxy-2-pent-en-1-al against transplantable murine tumour lines

Abstract

The carcinostatic activity of 4-hydroxy- 2-pent-en- 1-al (HPE) was studied with the following transplantable murine tumours in the ascitic form: Ehrlich carcinoma, Gardner lymphosarcoma, and Sarcoma 180. A bioassay system was used involving treatment of tumour cell suspension in vitro with 0·04–1·28 mM HPE for 60 min at 37°C and re-injection of treated cells into groups of mice. Significant increases in survival time were observed with concentrations of HPE greater than 0·16 mM ( 16·8%–91·5%) and “indefinite survivors” (surviving beyond day 60 following transplantation) were obtained using HPE ( 0·64–1·28 mM) in all three tumour lines. The ID 50 ( 0·095–0·153 mM) and ID 90 ( 0·131–0·315 mM) values obtained demonstrate that HPE is a relatively potent carcinostatic agent in vitro in the tumour lines tested in this study. Results obtained with HPE under conditions in vitro do not distinguish between a direct cytotoxic effect of HPE on the ascitic tumour cells or a possible extension in the generation time of these cells. Treatment of these ascitic cell lines in vivo with multiple i.p. injections of HPE ( 4–128 mg/kg body wt/day) on days 3 and 4 following transplantation resulted in no significant increase in survival time compared to controls for both Ehrlich and Gardner. Sarcoma 180 responded with a moderate inhibition of tumour growth of 24% and 35% at 64 and 128 mg/kg/day of HPE.