[Effect of hexamethylene bisacetamide on human gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901]

After the human gastric cancer cells SGC-7901 were cultured with 5 mM hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA) for 120 hr, cell growth was inhibited. The doubling time increased from 48 hr in untreated cells to 99.6 hr in HMBA-treated cells. The maximal increase in growth was 2.4-fold as compared to 6.4-fold in the untreated control. 3H-thymidine incorporation was inhibited by HMBA and the colony formation rate was reduced. There was concomitant decrease in carcino-embryonic antigen and beta-2 microglobulin as determined by radioimmuno-assay. Lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) and its isoenzyme assay revealed a marked increase in H-type LDH but the total enzyme activity was reduced. These results indicate that HMBA inhibits proliferation of SGC-7901 cells in vitro.