Enhancement of x-ray damage in HeLa cells by exposure to lucanthone (Miracil D) following radiation.

Abstract

Summary The colony-forming ability of HeLa cells that survived an initial dose of X-irradiation proved abnormally sensitive to lucanthone. Surviving cells gradually regained normal resistance to lucanthone treatment, which implied that lucanthone was acting to inhibit a postradiation repair process. Enhancement of cell killing by lucanthone was comparable in degree to that induced by actinomycin D, with which it shares many properties. Lucanthone merits further study as a possible adjunct in clinical radiation therapy, since it is a relatively safe drug which has been widely used for many years in the treatment of human schistosomiasis.