Evaluation of cell proliferation and cell death based assays in chemosensitivity testing

Background. Drug sensitivity testing (DST) is used to predict the clinical response to chemotherapy with limited success. Our objective was to evaluat e assays that measure cell proliferation or apoptosis in determining sensit ivity of ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin and paclitaxel. Materials and Me thods: Four ovarian cancer lines were used. LD10-LD90 doses were determined by viability assays. Assays measuring cell proliferation, sulforhodamine-B (SRB), tritiated thymidine; and cell death, diphenylamine or DNA histone E LISA were compared. Results: SRB assay was consistent and sensitive. Histon e ELISA correlated with the viability assay at high doses. The [H-3] thymid ine test was not sensitive and resulted in false positive responses. While less sensitive, detection of apoptosis by diphenylamine assay shows a simil ar trend to histone ELISA. Conclusions: We demonstrate significant differen ces between the various assays. Most of these assays are better predictors of resistance. Further studies are needed to determine the best correlation between in vitro testing and responses in vivo.