Radiosensitization of uterine cancer cell lines by cytotoxic agents

Radiotherapy remains an integral part of uterine cancer therapy. Overcoming radioresistant tumors by sensitizers continues to be a prime objective in radiotherapy research. In this study, the effects of five cytotoxic agents on two radiosensitive and four radioresistant uterine cancer cell lines were investigated. The ATP bioluminescence was used to measure surviving fractions. Data analysis was done using the linear quadratic model and radiosensitivity index D. Both AN3 and SKUT1B were radiosensitive with Ds of 1.73 and 1.72 Gy, respectively. The resistant cell lines had the following D values: AE7, 3.50; ECC, 6.61; HEC1A, 4.59; and HEC1B, 13.49 Gy. The average radiosensitization effects for various drugs were measured by reduction of D: DXR 45 +/- 7, DDP 40 +/- 9, 5FU 55 +/- 10, MITO 59 +/- 14, and HU 1.7 +/- 7%. Except for HU, Wilcoxon analyses revealed that these sensitizing effects were significant with P < 0.02. In summary, Adriamycin, 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, and mitomycin-C have the potential to be radiosensitizers in uterine cancer cell lines.