Introduction: Preliminary in vitro cytoxicity evaluations are determined in human tumor cell lines as a bioassay for the screening of potentially anticancer natural products.
Objective: To strengthen the available in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation models, the panel of cell lines was expanded, and the sensitivity profile of each cell line was evaluated for its response to selected antineoplasic drugs.
Materials and methods: HeLa, MKN-45 and U-937 cell lines were added to the panel, and the sensitivity was determined for each of seven cell lines: HEp-2, HT-29, MCF-7, SiHa, MKN-45, HeLa and U-937. The effects of the antineoplasic drugs Doxorubicin HCl, Taxol, Cisplatin, Cyclophosphamide and Carmustin were examined, using the methyl thiazol tetrazolium (MTT) reduction assay.
Results: A differential sensitivity to the drugs Doxorubicin HCl, Taxol and Cisplatin was established among the cell lines by comparing the lethal concentration 50 (LC50) values. HEp-2 was the most sensitive cell line, whereas HeLa and U-937 were the most resistant. HEp-2 exhibited a biphasic response to Taxol treatment; this was related to the reported mechanism of action of this compound.
Conclusion: Cyclophosphamide and Carmustin did not show activity under test conditions.