A study on chemosensitivity test in relation with the phases of cell cycle in ovarian cancer cell line

Kim, Mikyung; Oh, Chang Seok; Lee, Eun Joo

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Theoretically, chemotherapy sensitivity and resistance assays help to predict which sensitive agent will be effective for patients. Due to low correlation between in vitro assay results and in vivo responses, chemosensitivity test is not generally applied in actual clinical practices. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of cell cycle in the course of cell culture stage on chemosensitivity test as a disturbing factor.
METHODS
After synchronization at G0, we conducted experiments on SKOV-3 cell line according to determined cell cycle span (G0, G0/G1, S, G2/M) with MTT (methylthiazolyl-diphenyl- tetrazolium bromide) chemosensitivity test. We evaluated the sensitivity changes of six chemotherapeutic agents (5-FU, Etoposide, Cisplatin, Topotecan, Paclitaxel, Doxorubicin) in each phase at target times.
RESULTS
Each phase represented the various results of MTT sensitivity on six chemotherapeutic agents. The variation of sensitivity between experimental (cell cycle synchronized culture) group and reference (conventional culture) group was 21.3+/-5.1 (mean+/-.D)%.
CONCLUSION
The cells in the each phase of cell cycle represent different levels of sensitivity to the same chemotherapeutic agent. The required cell culture stage of chemosensitivity test can blur the true candidate agent. This finding can be regarded as one of the reasons of mismatch between in vitro chemosensitivity and in vivo response of candidate chemotherapeutic agents.