Influence of bacteriophage preparations on migration of HL-60 leukemia cells in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Bacteriophage therapy is considered one of the most attractive alternatives to antibiotic treatment, which may be significant due to the rising number of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. Patients with cancer frequently suffer bacterial infections resulting from immunosuppression caused by anticancer treatment; thus they constitute a considerable group of patients subjected to phage therapy. In this study, we investigated the influence of bacteriophages on the migration of human leukemia (HL-60) cells. Results of these studies provide data regarding phage treatment of patients with cancer, especially with this type of leukemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The influence of phage preparation on migration of HL-60 leukemia cells was evaluated with BD Bioscience Migration Chambers. RESULTS: Bacteriophages have no influence on migration of HL-60 cells. The only phage preparation which stimulated migration of HL-60 cells was Staph.liz, specific to S. aureus, however, the molecular basis of these interactions cannot be currently explained. CONCLUSION: Results of our studies may be in line with previous data indicating that phage therapy is safe for patients with cancer.