Enhanced in vitro selective toxicity of chemotherapeutic agents for human cancer cells based on a metabolic defect

ABSTRACT-A metabolic defect that is prevalent in human cancer cell lines was exploited to selectively kill these cells without killing cocultured normal human fibroblasts. Methionine dependence, a metabolic defect seen only in cancer cells or immortalized cell lines in vitro, precludes the cells from growing in media in which methionine is replaced by its immediate precursor, homocysteine, a condition that allows the growth of all normal cell strains tested. The methionine-dependent cells become reversibly blocked in late S-G2 (Le., late-S and G2 phases) under the above condition, a block that was exploited for selective chemotherapy against these cells. In cultures that were initiated with equal amounts of cancer cells and human diploid fibroblasts, substitution of homocysteine and doxorubicin for methionine in the culture medium followed by methionine repletion with vincristine was totally effective at selec-tively eliminating a methionine-dependent human sarcoma and