Accumulation of vincristine and doxorubicin in malignant lymphocytes with different immunophenotypes

Abstract

Cellular accumulation of vincristine (VCR) and doxorubicin (DOX) was studied in 15 patients with low-grade B-cell malignancies. Their leukemic lymphocytes were isolated and the effect of verapamil on drug uptake was studied. The immunophenotype was characterized using anti-IgM, -IgD, -B 1, monoclonal antibodies. The more that cells bound the IgD or B1 antibodies, the more vincristine and doxorubicin did they accumulate. The fewer the cells that bound IgM antibodies, the more drug did they accumulate.