Comparison of anticancer drug efficacy using the short-term microplate culture and MTT dye reduction assay

Kim, Nam Ki; Lee, Kwang Rae; Hwang, Pyoung Han; Kim, Jung Soo

Abstract

Individual tumors, even those of the same histologic type, show varying sensitivity to specific cytotoxic agent. Therefore, sensitivity testing assume an increasingly important as an orientational aid in planning chemotherapy. In the past decade there have been many attempts to develop a chemosensitivity test that would predict the clinical effectiveness of various chemostherapeutic agents against human neoplasms. In the United States National Institue's anticancer drug screening program, a colorimetric assey based on the ability of live cells to reduce a tetrazolium-base compound(MTT) to a blue formazan product was used. There has been an increase in reports of a chemosensitivity assay that use tetrazolium dyes and current the assay is in use in our country. The efficacy of several anticancer drug (vincristine sulfate, Etoposide, doxorubicin CDDP) were evaluated using the in vitro chemosensitivity of MTT assay with two cancer cell lines (MOLT-4, KHOS/NP). The follows obtained. 1) CI50 on MOLT-4 are 0.55ng/ml and 0.81ng/ml for vincristine and oncovin, 142.30ng/ml and 78.75ng/ml for lastet and vepesid, and 19.75ng/ml, 20.43ng/ml and 8.66ng/ml for ADR, ADM and adriblastin, respectively. 2) CI50 on KHOS/NP are 691.35ng/ml, 873.73ng/ml, 1,205.22ng/ml, 768.81ng/ml and 672.19ng/ml for cisplan, cisplatin, cispatin, platinol and cisplatin G, and 9.22ng/ml, 11.46ng/ml and 4.28ng/ml for ADR, ADM and adriblastin, respectively. In conclusion the MTT dye reduction assay to anticancer drug sensitivity using short-term microplate culture might serve as a reliable tool for the selection of effective chemotherapeutic agents in patients with cancers.