Phenolic compounds, sodium salicylate and related compounds, as inhibitors of tumor cell growth and inducers of apoptosis in mouse leukemia L1210 cells.

The effects of a series of phenolic compounds were compared to the effects of sodium salicylate (2-hydroxybenzoate) on the growth, cell cycle and apoptotic effects in wild-type (WT) and deoxyadenosine-resistant (Y8) L1210 leukemia cells. These compounds included: salicylaldehyde, salicylaldoxime, salicylhydroxamic acid, salicylamide, 5-aminosalicylate and 5-sulfosalicylate. The IC50 values for inhibition of tumor cell growth ranged from 40 microM for salicylaldhyde to greater than 4 mM for 5-sulfosalicylate. There appeared to be an excellent correlation between the IC50 value for a compound and the ratio of octanol/aqueous distribution. Salicylamide caused a G2/M block in both the WT and Y8 L1210 cells, while salicylalehyde caused a G0/G1 block in both the WT and Y8 cells. Salicylamide and salicylaldoxime caused a much greater apoptotic effect in the Y8 cells than in the parental WT L210 cells. These data suggest that salicylaldehyde and salicylaldoxime, the most active compounds in this series, may provide the lead chemicals from which other more active drugs can be synthesized.