Anti-cancer drugs may be able to inhibit tumour growth and metastasis by blocking fibrinogen- and/or fibrin-related pathways. To test this hypothesis, the effect of various anti-neoplastic drugs on the binding of 125I-Fibrinogen to two leukaemia cell lines, HL60 and P388, was investigated. All the drugs tested inhibited the binding of fibrinogen to leukaemia cells. This effect was particularly marked for drugs that act as inhibitors of protein synthesis. Since these anti-neoplastic drugs do not have anti-coagulant actions, these results provide evidence for the potential of targeting tumour fibrinogen as a new form of cancer chemotherapy.
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