Single and Combination Treatment with Vitamin K 3 and Adriamycin: In Vitro Effects on Cell Survival and DNA Damage in Human Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells

Utility of drug response modulators to increase therapeutic:toxic ratio of anticancer drugs in the treatment of refractory malignancies is becoming desirable. In this study, we have attempted to potentiate the tumor cell killing ability of Adriamycin (ADR) against chronic myeloid leukemia cells (CML), in the presence of vitamin K₃. Cell growth was evaluated by the MTT assay and the ³H-thymdine incorporation inhibition assay. A highly significant (p < 0.001) inhibition of cell survival and ³H-thymidine incorporation was effected in CML cells exposed to the combination of ADR and vitamin K₃. When the CML cells were treated with ADR and vitamin K₃ simultaneously, a greater fragmentation of the intact DNA was revealed as observed by the enhanced formation of DNA single strand breaks. Results demonstrate the therapeutic significance of employing vitamin K₃ as an adjuvant in CML chemotherapy with ADR.