Effect of some cytostatics on the haemopoietic stem cells (CFUs) in blood.

The effect of some cell-cycle stage-specific cytostatics on the pluripotent stem cells (CFUs) present in the blood was investigated. The amount of these cells in the blood responds markedly and very quickly to a single administration of any of these drugs. Their effects on the circulating CFUs allowed the drugs tested to be divided into groups: (1) Hydroxyurea and arabinosyl cytosine induced a profound decrease in the number of CFUs in the blood, which was followed by a return to the normal value and an overshoot that lasted several days; (2) Colchicine, vinblastine, vincristine, and methotrexate first induced an increase in the number of CFUs in the blood, which was followed by a decrease to below the normal values, and still later an overshoot that lasted several days. The preliminary data on the effect of hydroxyurea on the CFUs circulating in large quantities in the blood of mice with Friend virus leukaemia indicate that the tumorous stem cells (CFUs) might respond to these cytostatics in a similar way.