Spirogermanium: Effects on Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Survival of Normal and Tumor-Bearing Mice 1

Abstract

Abstract

The effect of spirogermanium (SG) on hematopoietic stem cells, tumor burden, and survival times was investigated in C3H mice with transplanted mammary carcinoma. Compared to normal mice, the number of hematopoietic stem cells, or colony-forming units per spleen (CFU-S), was lower in the marrow of tumor-bearing mice. Spirogermanium at 15 and 30 mg/kg was not toxic to the normal hematopoietic cells in the marrow of either normal or tumor-bearing mice. In contrast to animals treated with cyclophosphamide, SG did not decrease the tumor growth rate or prolong the survival times of tumor-bearing C3H mice. Doses of 35–40 mg/kg SG did not prolong the survival times or decrease the tumor burden of AKR/J mice with a long-passaged lymphoma. These studies demonstrate that SG has minimal inhibitory effects to the marrow of normal mice and may promote the maintenance of normal marrow cells in tumor-bearing animals. However, in two different transplanted tumor cell lines, SG did not inhibit tumor growth or prolong host survival time.