Antiproliferative effects of the Ca2/calmodulin antagonist B859–35 and the Ca2-channel blocker Verapamil on human lung cancer cell lines

We have recently demonstrated that the dihydropyridine-derivative B859-35 has a selective chemotherapeutic effect on experimentally induced neuroendocrine lung tumors in hamsters. These tumors resembled human atypical lung carcinoids morphologically and expressed mammalian bombesin, calcitonin and neuron-specific enolase. In the hamster model, B859-35 had no antiproliferative effect on pulmonary adenomas of Clara cell origin. In this study, we have tested the antiproliferative effects of B859-35 and of the Ca 2+ -channel blocker Verapamil in vitro on three human lung cancer cell lines