Seasonal modulation of the circadian time structure of circulating T and natural killer lymphocyte subsets from healthy subjects.

A seasonal modulation of the circadian time structure of circulating T and natural killer (NK) lymphocyte subtypes was documented in five healthy men aged 24-36 yr. Venous blood was obtained every 4 h for 24 h from each subject in January, March, June, August, and November 1984. Three subjects were also studied in April and/or August and/or November 1983 for the T subsets only. Mononuclear cells were isolated on Ficoll-Paque gradient and aliquots were incubated with OKT3, OKT4, OKT8, or HNK-1 monoclonal antibodies for characterizing all, T, T helper, T suppressor-cytotoxic, and NK lymphocytes, respectively, under an epifluorescence microscope. An effect of both sampling time and study month was statistically validated (P less than 0.01) with both two-way analysis of variance and cosinor for the peripheral counts in total, pan-T, T helper, and NK lymphocytes (cells per cubic millimeter). Seasonal changes affected both the circadian patterns and the 24-h mean values. Thus the double amplitude (total extent of variation) of the circadian rhythm in circulating total, T and T helper lymphocytes varied between 0 in March (P greater than 0.30; no rhythm) and up to 46-68% of the 24-h-mean (M) in November, with acrophases (times of maximum, 0) localized in the first half of the night (P less than 0.001). Maximal values were found at 8:30 h for both T suppressor-cytotoxic and NK lymphocytes; a smaller second peak was also found at 20:30 h, and a 12-h rhythm was validated by cosinor (P less than 0.0001), with no patient change in waveform along the year scale. A circannual rhythm was statistically validated by cosinor for total (0 in November), pan-T (0 in March), T suppressor-cytotoxic (0 in December), and NK lymphocytes (0 in October). A rhythm with a period equal to 6 mo was found for circulating T helper cells with 0 occurring both in April and October. Seasonal variations in the incidence of several immunologically related diseases may correspond to an endogenous circannual time structure.

Analysis of cell proliferation and cell death during in situ hyperthermic treatment of neoplastic cells: a case report of human non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

In this study we observed the effects in vivo of hyperthermic treatment on the cell kinetics (cell proliferation/cell death) in one case of human non-Hodgkin lymphoma, by analyzing the following morpho-cytochemical parameters: Acridine Orange fluorochromasia, mitotic index, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) labeling, and ultrastructure morphology. After two hyperthermic exposures there was a significant reduction of cell growth rate (e.g. mitotic and PCNA positive cells) and an increase in cell loss by death. The cell death occurred by the typical apoptotic cascade, namely DNA fragmentation, chromatin hypercondensation and margination, karyorrhexis, ribonucleoproteins segregation and cytoplasm cleavage; in addition some necrotic cells were found. The data indicates that the hyperthermic treatments limit the cell proliferation (e.g. arrest and/or deceleration of the cell cycle) by facilitating the trigger of programmed cell death. It was concluded that thermal injury can be considered an effective inducer of antiproliferative and apoptogenic associated effects on the growth of this kind of neoplasia.

Cellular and humoral immunity to leukemia cells in BCG-induced growth control of a murine leukemia.

The antitumor effects of weekly iv injections of 1.0 mg BCG and/or sc injections of 10(7) irradiated leukemia cells were studied in an isogeneic, transplantable lymphoid leukemia in the C57BL/6 mouse. The injections were started at day 1 after ip inoculation of 10(5) leukemia cells. BCG prolonged the survival time of most animals and cured 22%. BCG plus irradiated cells cured only about 10% of the mice, and irradiated cells alone had no curative effect. Individual tumor-bearing mice in the various experimental groups were examined with respect to ascites tumor cell number; complement-dependent cytotoxic antibodies in sera; direct and antibody-dependent cytotoxicity to tumor cells of lymphoid cells from peritoneal fluid, the spleen, and peripheral lymph nodes; and the cytology of ascites, the spleen, and lymph nodes. Only the antibody-dependent lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity (ADLMC) was correlated with the ascites tumor cell number, since the ADLMC was high only in mice with a tumor cell number less than that of the controls. Furthermore, since mice with a low tumor cell number had predominantly only lymphocytes as the nonmalignant cell type in their peritoneal fluid, ADLMC may have had an important role in BCG-induced control of tumor growth.

Prevention of spontaneous tumors of aged mice by immunopharmacologic manipulation: study of immune antitumor mechanisms.

Effects produced by long-term application of three immune modifiers (azimexon, retinoic acid, and tuftsin) on the depressed immune systems of 18-month-old inbred C57BL/6 female mice were investigated. The effect of each agent was examined on four cell types (cytotoxic T-cells, K-cells, NK cells, and macrophages) possibly involved in antitumor defenses and on the spontaneous tumor development that accompanied advancing age. Three substances chosen for this study appeared able to alter immune parameters, and each one displayed its own pattern of activity. Common to all three agents were an increase of age-depressed tumoricidal activity of peritoneal macrophages and no effect on the depressed NK activity of spleen cells. Retinoic acid increased splenic K-cell activity, already elevated in aged mice and unaffected by the other two agents. Cytotoxic T-cell activity, diminished by age, was stimulated considerably by retinoic acid and by tuftsin but only slightly by azimexon. Histopathologic studies revealed a decrease in the incidence of spontaneous tumors in the 3 treated groups. This decrease was statistically significant in the retinoic acid- and tuftsin-treated groups when compared with the incidence in untreated mice of the same age. Correlation of drug-induced modifications of the immune system with tumor incidence in aged mice was attempted.

Phase I trial of 5-day continuous venous infusion of oxaliplatin at circadian rhythm-modulated rate compared with constant rate.

The toxic effects and tissue uptake of both cisplatin and oxaliplatin--[(1R, 2R)-1,2-cyclohexanediamine-N,N'] [oxalato(2-)-O,O']platinum--were previously shown to vary similarly according to dosing time in mice. A 4-hour infusion of cisplatin resulted in fewer side effects and allowed administration of higher doses at 16 hours than at 4 hours in patients with cancer. We hypothesized that the continuous venous infusion of oxaliplatin for 5 days would be less toxic and would deliver a higher dose to the patient if the drug were infused at a circadian rhythm-modulated rate (peak at 16 hr; schedule B) rather than at a constant rate (schedule A). We tested this hypothesis in a randomized phase I trial. We escalated the dose of oxaliplatin to the patient by 25 mg/m2 per course. Courses were repeated every 3 weeks. An external, multichannel, programmable-in-time pump was used for the infusions. Toxicity was assessable for 94 courses in 23 patients (12 patients with breast carcinoma, nine with hepatocellular carcinoma, and two with cholangiocarcinoma). The incidence of neutropenia of World Health Organization grades II-IV and the incidence of distal paresthesias were 10 or more times higher (P less than .05) with schedule A than with schedule B. In addition, vomiting was 55% higher (P = .15) with schedule A than with schedule B. Furthermore, with schedule B, the mean dose of oxaliplatin (P less than .001) and its maximum tolerated dose (P = .06) could be increased by 15% over those doses with schedule A. An objective response was achieved in two of the 12 patients with previously treated breast cancer. We recommend that the dose of oxaliplatin for phase II trials be 175 mg/m2, delivered according to the circadian rhythm-modulated rate.

A cytokinetic analysis of bacillus calmette-guérin-induced growth control of a murine leukemia.

The cytokinetics of an isogeneic, transplantable, lymphoid leukemia, growing as an ascitic tumor in the C57BL/6 mouse, has been investigated during normal growth and during regression induced by weekly injections i.v. of 1.0 mg Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). Survival was significantly prolonged in the BCG-treated group, and 27% of the mice were apparently cured. The tumor growth curves showed, furthermore, that BCG-rreated mice could be divided into two groups according to whether the ascitic tumor cell number was at control level or below that of the controls. By methods such as stathmokinetics, tritiated thymidine autoradiography, and cytophotometry, it was demonstrated that the proliferative activity was higher in BCG mice with a low tumor mass as compared to controls and BCG mice with a tumor mass similar to that of controls. The cytokinetic characteristics of BCG mice with a low ascitic tumor cell number were especially expressed by high mitotic activity, high initial labeling indices, short potential tumor doubling time, and a low number of G0-G1 cells. Furthermore the ascitic tumor cell loss rate was increased in these mice during the whole experimental period. It was deduced from the various parameters and especially from the cytophotometric and autoradiographic results that BCG induces a preferential kill of tumor cells in G0-G1 and the first part of the S phase. In addition, the cytological aspects of the ascitic tumor were found to be related to the cell kinetic pattern as the amount of small and large tumor cells increased and decreased, respectively, with accumulation of tumor cells in G0-G1.

Decrease of metastatogenic potential by pregraft treatment of Lewis lung carcinoma cells with proteinase and protein kinase affinity labels.

Three synthetic irreversible enzyme inhibitors (75 microM di-iso-propylphosphorofluoridate (DFP), 310 microM N alpha-p-tosyl-L-lysine (TLCK) and 240 microM L-1-tosylamide-2-phenylethyl (TPCK) chloromethyl ketone), as well as the transition state analogue chymostatin, inhibit the development of Lewis lung adenocarcinoma (3LL) in C57 BI/6 mice, when 3LL cells are treated once and for a limited period (60 min) prior to grafting. These compounds demonstrate divergent protease specificity and, in the case of TLCK and TPCK, convergent reactivity toward the highly conserved protein kinase catalytic subunit. Using 200 microM chymostatin and low doses (25-40 microM) of the irreversible enzyme inhibitors, the antimetastatogenic effect is revealed to be specific, as primary tumor development is not affected. Although no direct experimental evidence can be forwarded, our results fit with the concept that the motile metastatogenic 3LL cells may constitute a phenotype which, in contrast to the resident cells from the primaries, responds to these enzyme inhibitors in a highly sensitive manner.

Metabolism of proline in a human leukemic lymphoblastoid cell line.

Amino acid analysis of the culture medium was carried out in a human leukemic lymphoblastoid cell line (REH) established from the lymphoblasts of a patient with acute lymphoid leukemia. The results are compared with those of a reference cell line (LHN13) established from normal human lymphocytes. The most striking difference between these two cell lines concerns proline. In LHN13 the concentration of this amino acid in the culture medium increases by 40 microgram/ml/10(6) cells during a 72-hr incubation. In REH there is a decrease under the same culture conditions. In both cell lines proline is derived from glutamic acid and from arginine, as found with the use of 14C-labeled precursors. Synthesis of proline in the REH line represents approximately 26% of the value measured in LHN13 when the precursor is glutamic acid and 15% when the precursor is arginine. The radioisotopic assay for delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase showed that there is a deficiency of this enzyme in the REH cells. The defect in proline synthesis of REH was found at the establishment of this line and constitutes a metabolic marker that has persisted for more than 2 years.

Oncostatic effects of Alangium vitiense extracts (ICIG-EORTC 1131, 1186 and 1207) on lymphoid murine tumors.

A total alkaloid and two purified alkaloid extracts of Alangium vitiense were found to be oncostatic for L1210 leukemia; the total alkaloid exerted a noticeable activity, and the purified extracts exerted a borderline activity. These two purified extracts are noticeably oncostatic for two other lymphoid neoplasias in mice, P388 leukemia and Gardner lymphosarcoma. These compounds are not active on Warner myelomonocytic leukemia WEH13 or on B16 melanoma.

Kinetics and metabolism of a new fluoropyrimidine, 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine, in humans.

5'-Deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5'-dFUrd) is a new antineoplastic agent which possesses a higher therapeutic index in several experimental tumors compared to other fluoropyrimidines. During a Phase I trial, 5'-dFUrd, 1 to 15 g/sq m/week, was administered to patients as a 25- to 35-min i.v. infusion. Plasma kinetics and metabolism of 5'-dFUrd were investigated. The unmetabolized drug was measured by a high-performance liquid chromatography assay. 5-Fluorouracil and 5,6-dihydrofluorouracil, the two detected plasma metabolites, were quantitated by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry methodology with a detection limit of 0.07 microM for both metabolites. The disposition of 5'-dFUrd in humans at therapeutic doses followed a nonlinear kinetic process. Plasma concentrations of 5-fluorouracil generated in vivo represented approximately 6% of 5'-dFUrd concentrations and the 5-fluorouracil half-life ranged from 8.8 to 27.1 min. High plasma values of 5,6-dihydrofluorouracil (14.5 to 30 microM) were observed in patients, indicating the importance of this pathway in humans.

Circadian rhythm in toxicities and tissue uptake of 1,2-diamminocyclohexane(trans-1)oxalatoplatinum(II) in mice.

Mechanisms involved in the circadian rhythm in murine tolerance for the new platinum analogue, 1,2-diamminocyclohexane(trans-1)oxalatoplatinum(II) (1-OHP) were sought in 404 male C57BL/6 x DBA/2 F1 mice standardized by 12 h light-12 h dark. A potentially lethal dose of 1-OHP (17 mg/kg i.v.) resulted in 76% long-term survival at 15 h after light onset (HALO) (activity span) as compared to 24% after treatment at 7 HALO (rest span) (chi 2 21.3; P less than 0.001). A total of 204 mice received the same dose of 1-OHP at one of three circadian stages (0, 8, or 16 HALO). No renal toxicity was encountered. Bone marrow and jejunal villi constituted the chief targets of 1-OHP toxicity at this dosage and schedule. Hematological tolerance as gauged by leukocyte counts was optimal when the drug was given at 16 HALO (P from analysis of variance, less than 0.001). Jejunal lesions were less severe after 1-OHP dosing at 16 HALO as compared to 8 HALO (P less than 0.001). Total platinum concentrations were determined in 18 tissues 24 h after 1-OHP dosing. The highest levels of platinum were found in the spleen on day 1 as well as on day 5 following 1-OHP treatment. Despite the fact that the highest platinum concentrations in tissues usually corresponded to drug dosing at 8 HALO, no correlation was documented between such variables and tissue toxicity. Tissue pharmacokinetics of 1-OHP contribute only in part if at all to the circadian rhythm in hematological and jejunal toxicity of this drug.

Hematological toxicity of repeated injections of (chloro-2-ethyl)-ribofuranosyl-3-nitrosourea.

A previous study using a single injection of (chloro-2-ethyl)ribofuranosyl-3-nitrosourea has indicated the low acute hematotoxicity of this nitrosourea. However, because the hematotoxicity of nitrosourea is usually cumulative, we have studied the effect of injecting (chloro-2-ethyl)ribofuranosyl-3-nitrosourea (15 mg/kg) dissolved in 0.2 ml sterile oil C57BL X i.p. into DBA/2F1 mice for 5 consecutive weeks. The dose per injection represents the minimal dose necessary to show the maximal therapeutic efficacy on L1210 leukemia. Bone marrow cellularity and histology, spleen weight, bone marrow and splenic pluripotent stem cells, and colony-forming units committed to granulocyte-macrophage differentiation were measured 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14 days after the last injection in treated and control mice receiving oil only. No morphological or histological changes were found in the spleen and bone marrow of treated mice. In both organs, the number of splenic pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells decreased by about 1 log 1 day after the last injection but rapidly returned to normal values on Days 4 to 14. Granulocyte-macrophage-committed precursors were affected in both organs, at 20% of control values for bone marrow and 5% of control values for spleen on Day 1, with a transient and partial recovery on Day 4 followed by a second drop to 20 and 25% on Day 14. This effect on granulocyte-macrophage precursors contrasts with the absence of significant effect when the same treatment is used on peripheral white blood cell counts. Our results demonstrate that (chloro-2-ethyl)ribofuranosyl-3-nitrosourea belongs to the class of new nitrosoureas with low cumulative hematotoxicity.

A four-day subrenal capsule assay for testing the effectiveness of anticancer drugs against human tumors.

The subrenal capsule assay may predict to which anticancer drug a given patient's tumor is sensitive and may also be used to screen new anticancer drugs. The present study documents that the use of this model requires a histological assessment of both the exploitability of a subrenal capsule assay and the extent of drug-induced antitumor lesions. Thirty-five tumors from 34 patients with solid tumor were submitted to a subrenal capsule assay in a total of 1130 male B6D2F1 mice. After being biopsied, each tumor was dissected by a pathologist and cut into 50 pieces (1.5 X 1.5 X 1.5 cu mm), and one piece was implanted under the renal capsule of 35 mice; the mean tumor diameter was measured on Day 0. Mice were randomized into groups of 6 to 10 animals each. On Days 1, 2, and 3, mice were treated either with placebo (control group) or with various anticancer agents. On Days 4 or 6, mice were sacrificed, the mean tumor diameter measured, and the tumor-bearing kidney fixed in Bouin's picroformol solution and processed for histological analysis after staining with hematein -eosin. Seven histological parameters were blindly rated in a semiquantitative fashion yielding a compound score ( PAPAN ) which estimated the overall quality of each xenograft between -3 and +11. On Day 4, as opposed to Day 6, mean lymphocytic infiltration was 3-fold lower (p less than 0.01), and the rate of xenografts containing well-preserved cancer cells was 2-fold larger (p less than 0.01) in three different tumor specimens. Twenty-two of 31 (71%) assays were evaluable, as defined by a histological quality control test. In those, drug effects were demonstrable by statistically significant differences among groups in 2 assays (9%) by using the relative variation in tumor size as an index of drug effectiveness and in 12 assays (54%) by PAPAN histological score. This suggests the higher sensitivity of histological scoring over tumor size measurements. Moreover, no correlation between relative variation in tumor size and PAPAN was demonstrable with statistical significance indicating the poor reliability of tumor size measurements as an index of the antitumor effectiveness of cytostatic drugs.

In vitro sensitivity of myeloblast clonogenic cells to doxorubicin, aclacinomycin A, and 4'-O-tetrapyranyl-doxorubicin: correlations with clinical responses.

The in vitro sensitivity of peripheral blood myeloblast clonogenic cells (CFU-MLs) to doxorubicin (DOX), aclacinomycin (ACL), and 4'-O-tetrapyranyl-doxorubicin (THP-DOX) was studied to evaluate the individual chemosensitivity of CFU-MLs. CFU-MLs from untreated patients were sensitive to the three tested anthracyclines (in 60% to 69% of the patients). Conversely, CFU-MLs from relapsed patients previously treated with DOX-containing regimens were sensitive to ACL and THP-DOX (in 71% and 75% of the patients, respectively) but resistant to DOX. Six of ten patients who entered complete remission with a combination of DOX, vincristine, and cytosine arabinoside had CFU-MLs in vitro which were sensitive to DOX. Conversely, none of the 13 patients resistant to this chemotherapy regimen displayed CFU-MLs which were sensitive in vitro to DOX. Nine of ten patients who responded to ACL as well as one of three resistant patients had CFU-MLs sensitive to ACL in vitro. No clinical responses were observed with THP-DOX in five of seven patients with CFU-MLs sensitive to this drug. The results indicate that myeloblast clonogenic assays can be used to predict the in vitro sensitivity of CFU-MLs to compounds with established antileukemic activity (ie, DOX, ACL). However, the discrepancy between in vitro and in vivo sensitivity to THP-DOX underlines the importance of knowledge of drug pharmacokinetics and the difficulty of using the CFU-ML test for screening new drugs.

Chemotherapy of advanced ovarian cancer with 4'-O-tetrahydropyranyl doxorubicin and cisplatin: a randomized phase II trial with an evaluation of circadian timing and dose-intensity.

The efficacy and toxicity of the new anthracycline, 4'-0-tetrahydropyranyl doxorubicin (THP) (50 mg/m2 intravenous [IV] bolus) in association with cisplatin (100 mg/m2 IV as a 4-hour infusion) was assessed in 31 patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma. Twenty-eight patients were assessable for toxicity among whom 25 were assessable for response (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics [FIGO] stage IIIa, four patients; IIIb, 15 patients; IV, six patients). Nine patients had received prior treatment. Patients were randomized to receive schedule (sch) A (THP at 6 hours, then cisplatin from 16 to 20 hours) or sch B (THP at 18 hours, then cisplatin from 4 to 8 hours). Sch A was hypothesized as less toxic since THP was best tolerated in the late rest span and cisplatin near the middle of the activity span in experimental studies. The rate of clinical complete response (CR) was 52%, that of partial response (PR) was 12%, and the overall clinical response rate (CR plus PR) was 64% (sch A, 73%; sch B, 57%). Median progression-free survival and survival times were, respectively, 10 and 19 months. Of 12 patients in clinical CR evaluated at second-look laparotomy, four had a pathological CR (33%), and three had microscopic residual disease (MD). The overall rate of pathological CR was 16%. Sch A was associated with less neutropenia (P = .10), thrombocytopenia (P less than .01), anemia (P less than .01), and renal toxicity (P less than .05) than sch B. Of four patients withdrawn for toxicity, three were on sch B (one death). Mean dose intensities (DIs) of THP and cisplatin, respectively, decreased by 30% and 47% over the five initial courses. Such decrease was significantly more pronounced for sch B than for sch A in previously untreated patients (P from 2-way analysis of variance [ANOVA] less than .01). THP-cisplatin is active against advanced ovarian cancer, and its toxicities can be significantly decreased by dosing THP in the early morning and cisplatin in the late afternoon as compared with THP in the evening and cisplatin the next morning.

Adjuvant treatment of node-positive breast cancer with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, fluorouracil, and vincristine versus cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil: final report after a 16-year median follow-up duration.

PURPOSE: To determine the long-term impact on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy, when prospectively compared by random allocation with standard cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) in node-positive (N+) breast cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred forty-nine patients with N+ breast cancer, recruited from eight French cancer centers, were randomized to receive 12 monthly cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy, either CMF (n = 112) or doxorubicin, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and fluorouracil (AVCF) (n = 136). All had a negative metastatic work-up before inclusion, which was stratified by accrual center, tumor stage (International Union Against Cancer [UICC]), and menopausal status. RESULTS: No severe adverse effect related to grade 4 (World Health Organization [WHO]) toxicity was observed. There was no difference in second primary tumor incidence between the two arms. The treatment given was 88% of planned for AVCF and 75% for CMF in both premenopausal and menopausal patients. With a median follow-up time of 16 years (range, 13 to 17), the OS and DFS rates are significantly longer in the AVCF arm (56% v 41% [P = .01] for OS, and 53% v 36% [P = .006] for DFS). These differences are significant, irrespective of tumor stage (T1 to T2 v T3 to T4), and remain positive in patients with or without postoperative locoregional radiotherapy (55% of cohort). When analyzed according to menopausal status, the differences remain significant only for premenopausal patients. CONCLUSION: This set of mature controlled data confirms the added value of anthracycline-based combination adjuvant therapy for N+ breast cancer patients when compared with CMF, with both regimens given for 1 year.

Hematon, a multicellular functional unit in normal human bone marrow: structural organization, hemopoietic activity, and its relationship to myelodysplasia and myeloid leukemias.

An increasing amount of data provides strong evidence for the complex multifactorial control of primary hemopoietic functions. Here we present a new multicellular functional unit, the Hematon, isolated from the light-density floating fraction of normal human bone marrow (BM) aspirates. The Hematon is organized in a compact, three-dimensional spheroid complex from central adipocytes, fibroblastoid cells, and resident macrophages that compartmentalize myeloid, erythroid, and megakaryocyte progenitor cells and their progenies. The Hematon fraction is more than twofold more abundant in progenitor cells when compared to the mononuclear cell (MNC) fraction as gauged by cytological techniques and by analysis of granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming unit (GM-CFU) populations. Individual Hematons may produce, within 2-3 weeks, up to 50,000 hemopoietic cells of different cell lineages in organotypic microcultures. Recombinant human hematopoietic growth factors interleukin 3 (IL-3), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) significantly stimulated the endogenous cell production of some but not all of the individually treated Hematons, indicating the heterogeneity of factor-responsive cells within the Hematon population. Comparative observations of 184 BM aspirates support the hypothesis that the presence of Hematons in a BM aspirate correlates positively with homeostatic blood cell production, because the Hematon was present in normal BM (31/40) and it was rare among patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (15/53), acute myeloblastic leukemia (7/39), and chronic myelocytic leukemia (5/52). We suggest that the Hematon represents a unifying model around which the variability of fundamental BM functions and dysfunctions can be explored.

Synthesis and evaluation of antileukemic activity of 5-thienyl- or 5-(2-furyl)-2,3-dihydro-6,7-bis(hydroxymethyl)-1H-pyrrolizine bis(alkylcarbamates) and derivatives.

Treatment of N-(2-furoyl)proline or N-thenoylprolines and N-(2-thenoyl)thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid with acetic anhydride and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate gave 5-substituted derivatives of dimethyl 2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolizine-6,7-dicarboxylate and derivatives of dimethyl 5-(2-thienyl)pyrrolo[1,2-c]thiazole. Reduction of 2 with lithium aluminum hydride gave the diols 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d. These diols yielded the corresponding diacetates 4 by treatment with acetic anhydride. The bis(methylcarbamates) 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d and bis(isopropylcarbamates) 6b and 6c are obtained with the appropriate isocyanates. The 1-substituted pyrrolizines were synthesized, the 1-acetoxy compounds 7b and 7c further transformed into 1-hydroxy and 1-oxo analogues. The action of hydrochloric acid on 1-acetoxy derivatives gave 3H-pyrrolizines. Evaluation of antileukemic activity was investigated on the leukemia L1210 in vivo, on several bis(alkylcarbamates). The compounds 5c and 5d show good antileukemic activity comparable with the mitomycin.

New cysteamine (2-chloroethyl)nitrosoureas. Synthesis and preliminary antitumor results.

Three chemical pathways were used for the synthesis of four new N'-(2-chloroethyl)-N-[2-(methylsulfinyl)ethyl]- and N'-(2-chloroethyl)-N-[2-(methylsulfonyl)ethyl]-N- or N'-nitrosoureas. These compounds are plasma metabolites of CNCC, a promising antineoplastic (2-chloroethyl)nitrosourea. Preliminary antitumor evaluation was performed against L1210 leukemia implanted intraperitoneally in mice. Among these compounds, two of them exhibited a greater antitumor activity compared to that of the parent mixture.

Graft-versus-host reaction. Influence of genetic background in donor-recipient pairs incompatible for major histocompatibility complex (MHC).

In two H-2b anti-H-2d but not in H-2b anti-H2k donor-recipient combinations, graft-versus-host reaction (GVHR) mortality was found to vary as a function of the host's genetic background; the same non-major histocompatibility complex genes and/or antigens which influence GVHR mortality do not influence the intensity of GVHR splenomegaly or the time of skin rejection. In contrast, the severity of GVHR mortality correlates with the intensity of stimulation in mixed lymphocyte culture. The roles of minor histocompatibility (H) antigens and Mls product are discussed.