Author(s)

Domenico Mastrangelo, Lauretta Massai, Giuseppe Fioritoni, Antonio Iacone, Paolo Di Bartolomeo, Patrizia Accorsi, Tiziana Bonfini, Michela Muscettola, Giovanni Grasso

Department of Hematology, Pescara Main Hospital, Pescara, Italy.
Department of Medical, Surgical, and Neurological Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Pescara Cell Factory Foundation, Pescara Main Hospital, Pescara, Italy.

Arsenic Trioxide (ATO) is widely acknowledged as the treatment of choice for Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL). It is a “two-sided” drug since it can induce differentiation or kill APL and other tumor cells according to the dosage. Part of the cytotoxic effects of ATO on APL cells is due to its pro-oxidant activity, a characteristic which ATO shares with a number of other compounds, including high doses of ascorbate (ASC). In a comparative investigation on the cytotoxic effects of both ATO and ASC on HL60 (APL) cell lines, in Vitro, we have been able to confirm the known cytotoxic effects of ATO, but, more importantly, we have demonstrated that ASC is significantly more effective than ATO, in killing these cancer cells in Vitro, when the concentrations are maintained within the millimolar (mM) range, i.e. the range of plasma concentrations at which ASC induces oxidative damage to tumor cells. Since these plasma levels can be reached only by the intravenous administration of high doses of ASC, we propose that intravenous high doses of ASC may represent a potentially revolutionary new approach in the management of APL.

HL60; Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia; High Doses of Ascorbate; Cell Count and Viability Assays

D. Mastrangelo, L. Massai, G. Fioritoni, A. Iacone, P. Bartolomeo, P. Accorsi, T. Bonfini, M. Muscettola and G. Grasso, "Megadoses of Sodium Ascorbate Efficiently Kill HL60 Cells in Vitro: Comparison with Arsenic Trioxide," Journal of Cancer Therapy, Vol. 4 No. 8, 2013, pp. 1366-1372. doi: 10.4236/jct.2013.48162.