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British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 1993 Jun;67(6):1189–1195. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1993.224

Differential modulation of doxorubicin toxicity to multidrug and intrinsically drug resistant cell lines by anti-oestrogens and their major metabolites.

J Kirk 1, S Houlbrook 1, N S Stuart 1, I J Stratford 1, A L Harris 1, J Carmichael 1
PMCID: PMC1968530  PMID: 7685615

Abstract

The ability of the anti-oestrogens tamoxifen, toremifene and their 4-hydroxy and N-desmethyl metabolites to modify doxorubicin (dox) toxicity to intrinsically resistant and multidrug resistant cell lines was compared, using human breast and lung cancer, and Chinese hamster ovary cell lines. The anti-oestrogens significantly enhanced dox toxicity to multidrug resistant, P-glycoprotein-positive cell lines, but did not affect toxicity to intrinsically resistant, P-glycoprotein-negative cells. Modification was observed at clinically achievable anti-oestrogen concentrations. Toremifene and tamoxifen would therefore appear to be good candidates for in vivo studies as MDR modulating agents in selected patients with P-glycoprotein-positive tumours.

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Selected References

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