Cytosine-based nucleoside analogs are selectively lethal to DNA mismatch repair-deficient tumour cells by enhancing levels of intracellular oxidative stress.

Background: DNA mismatch repair deficiency is present in a significant proportion of a number of solid tumours and is associated with distinct clinical behaviour.

Methods: To identify the therapeutic agents that might show selectivity for mismatch repair-deficient tumour cells, we screened a pair of isogenic MLH1-deficient and MLH1-proficient tumour cell lines with a library of clinically used drugs. To test the generality of hits in the screen, selective agents were retested in cells deficient in the MSH2 mismatch repair gene.

Results: We identified cytarabine and other related cytosine-based nucleoside analogues as being selectively toxic to MLH1 and MSH2-deficient tumour cells. The selective cytotoxicity we observed was likely caused by increased levels of cellular oxidative stress, as it could be abrogated by antioxidants.

Conclusion: We propose that cytarabine-based chemotherapy regimens may represent a tumour-selective treatment strategy for mismatch repair-deficient cancers.