Polyamines and gastrin receptors (GR) were studied in samples of colon cancer and mucosa from 40 patients and in control mucosa from 11 patients without cancer. Polyamines (i.e., putrescine, spermidine, spermine) are essential for growth and differentiation. The concentration of polyamines is elevated in rapidly proliferating normal tissues and in some cancers. The presence of GR in human colon cancers has been previously reported. The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to determine whether polyamine levels are elevated in colon cancers and in adjacent normal colon mucosa compared to colon mucosa from patients without cancer; and (2) to examine the relationship between polyamine levels and GR in colon cancers. Polyamine levels in colon cancers were significantly higher than in the normal colon mucosa from the same patients. The polyamines, spermidine and spermine, were significantly higher in colon mucosa from patients with cancer compared to patients without cancer. Spermidine and the spermidine:spermine ratio, an index of cell proliferation, were increased in colon cancers with GR compared to cancers without GR. There were no significant correlations between polyamine levels and the following: patient age, CEA level, site of cancer, stage, or differentiation. Because polyamine levels are increased in colon mucosa from patients with cancer, measurement of polyamines may detect patients at risk for subsequent development of colon cancer. Increased levels of polyamines in colon cancers with GR is evidence that gastrin may play a trophic role in human colon cancers.

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alpha-Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) is a known irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the rate-limiting enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis. Cyclosporine (CsA) has been reported to inhibit ODC activity in vitro. In the present study, we compared the effects of DFMO and CsA on growth, survival, and polyamine levels in mouse colon cancer (MC-26) and hamster pancreatic cancer (H2T) cells in vitro. The growth and survival of MC-26 and H2T cells were inhibited by both DFMO and CsA. However, H2T cells were observed to be significantly more sensitive than MC-26 cells to both CsA and DFMO. The inhibitory effects of CsA were blocked by the addition of the polyamine, putrescine, in both MC-26 and H2T cells. Polyamine levels were altered significantly in both MC-26 and H2T cells treated with CsA and DFMO. However, the profile of these alterations differed between MC-26 and H2T cell lines. Putrescine and spermidine levels in MC-26 cells were more sensitive to DFMO inhibition than were H2T cells. Spermine levels were consistently elevated in MC-26 cells exposed to CsA or DFMO, while the level of spermine in H2T cells decreased significantly in response to the same drugs. These results suggest that CsA and DFMO exhibit different effects on colon and pancreatic cancer growth in vitro. In addition, the differences in the sensitivity of pancreatic and colon cancer to CsA and DFMO indicate potentially important differences in polyamine metabolism between the two cell lines.