Simple and efficient chemosensitivity assay for human primary tumor-cells using contact-sensitive microtiter plates

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Cell Biology
• Drug Discovery

Background:

• Accurate chemosensitivity testing is crucial for effective human primary tumor treatment.
• Existing assays can be time-consuming and require significant sample material.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simple, efficient, and rapid chemosensitivity assay for human primary tumors.
• To evaluate the feasibility of using a 96-well microtiter plate system with cell mats for drug sensitivity testing.

Main Methods:

• Human primary tumor cells were cultured on lethally irradiated 3T3 cell monolayers (cell mats) in 96-well plates.
• Cells were treated with various anticancer drugs (adriamycin, mitomycin C, cisplatin, etoposide, 5-fluorouracil) at different concentrations.
• Cell proliferation was assessed by H-3-deoxyuridine incorporation and measured using a scintillation counter.

Main Results:

• Complete dose-response curves were obtained for multiple drugs from a single plate within 5 days.
• The assay successfully generated cell survival curves from 30 out of 35 (77%) evaluable primary tumor specimens.
• A high evaluable rate was observed, potentially due to the feeder effect of the cell mats.

Conclusions:

• The developed cell mat-based assay is a simple, efficient, and rapid method for human primary tumor chemosensitivity testing.
• The system's ability to test multiple drugs simultaneously on a single plate offers advantages for personalized cancer therapy.
• Further optimization is needed, but the assay shows significant promise for clinical application.