Background/aims: Anticancer drugs are essential to pancreatic cancer therapy. The multidrug-resistance 1 (MDR1) gene codes for one of the ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters. The neutralizing antibody of MDR1 reduces the activity of MDR1 and may add to the sensitivity of anti-cancer drugs. We investigated the relationship of the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 2677G and 3435C, in the MDR1 gene and the effect of the anti-MDR1 single chain antibody (scAb) using pancreatic cancer cell lines.
Methodology: We exposed the pancreatic cancer cell lines, AsCP-1, Panc-1, BxPC-3, MIAPaCa-2 and QGP-1 to 0.1-1,000µ g/mL of 5-FU for 72h and calculated the cytotoxic reactions. Combined therapy with an established anti-MDR1 neutralizing scAb and 10µg/mL of 5-FU was also performed.
Results: AsCP-1 contained wild types of MDR1 2677G and 3435C, and showed the most 5-FU resistance. The anticancer effect of AsPC-1 increased with anti-MDR1 scAb, but the effect was not significant compared with other cell lines.
Conclusions: The cells with the wild type SNPs of MDR1 showed drug resistance, but we were not able to confirm a remarkable effect of the anti-MDR1 antibody.