Gastrointestinal tissue polyamine contents of patients with Barrett's esophagus treated with alpha-difluoromethylornithine.

alpha-Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an investigational chemopreventive agent, suppresses polyamine contents and decreases epithelial carcinogenesis in experimental models. The ability of this drug to decrease polyamine contents in human esophageal tissues has not yet been determined. Eight patients with Barrett's esophagus were treated with DFMO at a dose of 1.5 g/m2/day for 12 weeks. Four sites (Barrett's lesion, adjacent normal squamous esophagus, gastric tissue, and small bowel) were biopsied in each patient before, during, and after DFMO treatment in order to assess the effects of this drug on tissue polyamine levels. Ornithine decarboxylase activities and polyamine contents varied in each site analyzed. The rank orders were Barrett's > small bowel congruent to normal esophagus > gastric tissue for ODC activities, and small bowel > or = Barrett's congruent to normal esophagus > gastric tissue for putrescine contents. Spermidine, but not spermine, contents in the Barrett's lesions and normal squamous esophageal tissue were suppressed by systemic DFMO treatment and recovered to untreated control values when DFMO therapy was discontinued. Systemic DFMO treatment did not affect the levels of either of these two amines in gastric tissue and small bowel. Since DFMO can suppress polyamine contents in several gastrointestinal tissues, including Barrett's mucosa, we conclude that it is an effective agent with which to test the hypothesis that depletion of spermidine contents may prevent the development of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus in this specific patient group.