Obstetrics & Gynecology Science

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Original Article
Korean J Obstet Gynecol. 2003;46(8):1517-1524. Published online August 1, 2003.
The Effect of Levofloxacin on the Survival of Ovarian Cancer Cells with or Without Carboplatin Under Hypoxic Condition.
Sung Yun Hong, Ju Hyun Park, Eun Jin Kim, Jong Won Lee, Suk Bong Koh, Tee Sung Lee
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Taegu, Taegu, Korea.
2Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Taegu, Taegu, Korea.
Abstract
In solid tumor, there is a hypoxic region where oxygen supply is insufficient. In this study, we found that one of the quinolone antibiotics, levofloxacin, made a human ovarian cancer cells, SK-OV-3, resistant to hypoxia, even in the presence of a platinum-based anti-cancer therapeutic, carboplatin; when the cells (2 X 10(5) cells/12 well multi culture dish) were grown in no glucose medium (0 g/l) under hypoxia (1% O2), all the cells became dead after 24 hours of culture in the absence of levofloxacin and carboplatin, whereas the cells still survived, at least, until 36 hours of culture in the presence of levofloxacin (10-100 microgram/ml) alone or in combination with carboplatin. The results might have some implications in treating solid tumor; if cancer patients should be treated for infection with antibiotics, quinolone antibiotics can aggravate tumor by making cancer cells more resistant to hypoxia. This is also true even when a patient is treated with carboplatin. Therefore, the results strongly suggest that we should be careful in choosing antibiotics when they are used for cancer patients. In this regard, our work could be a new guideline in choosing antibiotics when antibiotics are applied for treating cancer patients.

Keywords :Carboplatin;Levofloxacin;Hypoxia;Cell survival;Ovarian cancer cell

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