Effects of aclacinomycin-A on murine leukemia

Effects of aclacinomycin-A (ACM) on leukemic cells and normal hematopoietic stem cells were studied for the purpose of evaluating the usefulness of this agent as an antileukemic agent. ACM suppressed not only leukemic colony-forming unit (LCFU) in the radiation-induced murine erythroleukemia, but also normal hematopoietic stem cells (CFU- S, CFU-C) in mice. However, LCFU was the most sensitive to ACM. After the administration of ACM at a dose of 5 mg/kg. LCFU was suppressed to 0.02 of the control on day 3 and recovered within 5 days. Splenic CFU-S and CFU-C were suppressed to the nadirs on day 2 and day 1, respectively, and they recovered within 5 days. On the basis of the differences in the sensitivities to ACM and recovery patterns between LCFU and normal hematopoietic stem cells. ACM at a single dose of 5 mg/kg was administered every 3 days (total dose of 25 mg/kg) into leukemic mice, and the increase in mean lifespan obtained 113.9%. Effectiveness of ACM in the treatment of acute leukemia was discussed.