In vitro bioassays for anticancer drug screening: effects of cell concentration and other assay parameters on growth inhibitory activity

In vitro growth inhibition assays were performed using human cancer cell lines at various concentrations with experimental anticancer drugs such as the cryptophycins and other cytotoxins. The effect of variations in assay parameters on the observed growth inhibition of these anticancer therapeutic agents was determined. The results demonstrated that the observed inhibitory activity of these compounds varied inversely with the cell concentrations used. The observed differences in activity between different cytotoxins were not necessarily proportionate. Thus, the relative activities of two toxins also varied with cell concentration. Furthermore, the sensitivity of these cell lines to the cytostatic purine analog, 6-mercaptopurine (used as a control), varied with cell concentration as well. The activity of this compound was dependent on the medium used for cell growth, yielding good activity in Eagle's minimum essential medium, but not in Ham's F-12 (Kaigin) medium. Moreover, growth inhibition by cryptophycin as well as 6-mercaptopurine was also dependent on the serum concentration in the medium. Finally, the sensitivity of the cancer cell lines to various organic solvents commonly used as drug vehicles for in vitro testing, such as ethanol, dimethylformamide, and dimethylsulfoxide, was likewise found to vary inversely with cell concentration.