Studies of the treatment of pulmonary epidermoid carcinoma Part 2. Thermochemotherapy in human epidermoid carcinoma cells in culture

The effectiveness of hyperthermia in combination with anticancer drugs on EBC-1 cell line established from a patient with pulmonary epidermoid carcinoma was investigated. Anticancer drugs tested in the present study were adriamycin, bleomycin, cisdichlorodiammineplatinum (II) and mitomycin C. EBC-1 cells were incubated with the drug for one hour at 37°C or at elevated temperature (41°C, 42°C and 43°C). The enhancement of cytotoxicity by hyperthermia was found in combination with all of the drugs. The degree of enhanced cytotoxicity was positively elated to the temperature in combinations with adriamycin and bleomycin. Especially, a synergic enhancement of cytotoxicity was found with the combination of hyperthermia and bleomycin. The present study showed that the combination of hyperthermia and anticancer drugs produced potential cytotoxicity on EBC-1 cells in vitro, and may provide useful information for the clinical trials in the future.