[In vitro effects of 5-FU on gynecologic malignant tumor cell lines]

In order to conduct a fundamental investigation of the effect of UFT on malignant tumors, biological experiments were conducted. UFT, 300 mg/day, starting one week prior to surgery, was administered in 12 cases of ovarian carcinoma. During the operation, 5-FU concentrations in serum, tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues were measured. The results were as follows: 0.009 +/- 0.005 micrograms/ml in serum; 0.157 +/- 0.214 micrograms/g in tumor tissues, and 0.042 +/- 0.028 micrograms/g in adjacent normal tissues. Based upon these values, the plating efficiency of cultured tumor cell lines was measured in the presence of 5-FU in vitro. With 5-FU concentrations of 0.01 micrograms/ml, no sign of restriction in plating efficiency was observed. Restriction was initially observed at 0.1 microgram/ml, and became more pronounced at 1.0 microgram/ml. Furthermore, experiments using a uterine cervical carcinoma cell line (SKG-3) indicated that restriction of the plating efficiency was enhanced, not only by the 5-FU concentration but also by lapse of time.