Table 1

 TUNEL analysis of apoptosis induced in malignant mesothelioma (MMe) cells by single drugs or by drug combinations

TreatmentMMPRENISTMES2
Data are expressed as the mean (SE) percentage of biotin-dU positive nuclei for 100 counted cells at a magnification of 100×. The values for each treatment were subtracted from untreated control values. Different concentrations of drugs were used, as described in the Methods section.
*p⩽0.001, difference between theoretical additive effects of chemotherapeutics (gemcitabine or pemetrexed) + imatinib vs measured effects of imatinib/chemotherapeutic combinations.
Imatinib1.10 (0.35)1.00 (0.23)1.70 (0.19)
Gemcitabine1.58 (0.42)3.07 (0.51)2.80 (0.32)
Pemetrexed0.98 (0.47)1.04 (0.26)1.00 (0.26)
Imatinib + gemcitabine5.34 (0.40)*9.72 (0.48)*1.02 (0.48)*
Imatinib + pemetrexed8.48 (0.40)*4.72 (0.26)*0.04 (0.26)*