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Effect of haemopoietic growth factors on cancer cell lines and their role in chemosensitivity

Oncogene volume 23, pages 981–990 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

The recombinant growth factors (GFs) erythropoietin (Epo) and granulocyte–macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) have important roles in the management of cancer patients. However, the effects of these GFs at a cellular level are not well understood. We examined the effect of GFs alone, and in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy, in a panel of seven cell lines. Flow cytometric analysis showed varying levels of receptor expression, which correlated with phosphorylated MAPK expression. Additionally, there were also concomitant increases in BCL-2 protein levels in those cells with high levels of MAPK activation. Although culturing cells with Epo or GM-CSF did not alter cell viability by themselves, GF pretreatment in cell lines expressing higher receptor levels resulted in a reduced magnitude of cell kill following exposure to cytotoxic IC50 concentrations of cisplatin. Subsequent co-culture with either the MEK inhibitor U0126 or the GM-CSF antagonist E21R negated this induced resistance to cytotoxic chemotherapy, confirming the importance of the GF receptor as well as MAPK in mediating these effects. These results suggest that the use of GFs during chemotherapy may be detrimental in those cancers expressing higher levels of the specific receptor. Conversely, our results also suggest that GFs are safe to use in chemotherapeutic regimens if the cancer cells do not overexpress the particular receptor.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Peter Wigley for supplies of the E21R, Dr Natalie Ahn for supplies of the plasmids, Dr Robert te Poele (Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton) and Naina Patel (Cancer Research UK, London) for advice on the transfection experiments, and Jackie Perry and Sipra Shahin (Barry Reed Oncology Laboratory, London) for technical assistance. This work was supported in part by the Orchid Foundation and the Barry Reed Oncology Research Fund.

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  1. New Drug Study Group, Barry Reed Oncology Laboratory, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, UK

    Wai Man Liu, Thomas Powles, Jonathan Shamash, David Propper, Tim Oliver & Simon Joel

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Correspondence to Wai Man Liu.

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Liu, W., Powles, T., Shamash, J. et al. Effect of haemopoietic growth factors on cancer cell lines and their role in chemosensitivity. Oncogene 23, 981–990 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1207294

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