This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Engebraaten, O. Articles by Berens, M. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Engebraaten, O. Articles by Berens, M. E.

Effect of Alkyl-lysophospholipid on Glioblastoma Cell Invasion into Fetal Rat Brain Tissue in Vitro¹

The Gade Institute, Department of Pathology, University of Bergen, N-5021 Bergen, Norway [O. E., R. B.], and The Brain Tumor Research Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California [M. E. B.]

The antitumor effect of alkyl-lysophospholipid (ALP) was studied on a continuous glioma cell line (GaMg) as well as on tumor spheroids obtained from three different primary brain tumor biopsies. GaMg monolayer growth was reduced by 50% after treatment with 30 µM ALP; cells accumulated in the G₂M phase of the cell cycle as determined by flow-cytometric analyses. Tumor spheroid growth was reduced by 25 and 44% during treatment with 10 and 30 µM ALP, respectively. These drug concentrations also caused a severe destruction of spheroids. No effect on growth or morphology was seen in spheroids treated with 0.1 and 1.0 µM ALP.

ALP caused a dose-dependent inhibition of invasion by GaMg tumor spheroids into brain aggregates. After 168 h of 1.0 µM ALP treatment, the volume of the intact brain aggregate was 90% larger than that in the untreated co-cultures.

To further investigate the efficacy of ALP as an anti-invasive drug, co-cultures were performed with specimens obtained from three primary brain tumors: a highly invasive glioblastoma multiforme, an anaplastic astrocytoma, and an astrocytoma. Treatment of spheroids from the most invasive tumor with ALP caused a 7-fold preservation of normal brain tissue relative to control co-cultures. Moreover, the sensitivity of primary glioma spheroids to the anti-invasive effect of ALP seemed to be associated with the aggressiveness of the tumor; spheroids from the more malignant specimen (glioblastoma multiforme) were more sensitive than those from the less aggressive tumors.

The anti-invasive effect seen with nontoxic concentrations of ALP may prove valuable in the treatment of malignant gliomas.

¹ O. E. and R. B. were supported by The Norwegian Cancer Society, Grants 88218 and 89002. M. E. B. was supported by a grant from the Preuss Foundation.

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at The Gade Institute, Department of Pathology, University of Bergen, Haukeland Hospital, N-5021 Bergen, Norway.

³ Current address: Laboratory of Neuro-Oncology Research, Barrow Neurological Institute, 350 West Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013-4496.

Received 9/25/90. Accepted 1/ 7/91.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. M. Wallace Integrative Tumor Board: Glioblastoma Multiforme: Nutritional and Botanical Approach Integr Cancer Ther, June 1, 2004; 3(2): 152 - 163. [PDF]