Chemosensitivity testing with tumor colony-forming assay for human osteosarcoma

Human tumor colony-forming assay for the efficacy of antitumor agents, established by Salmon and Hamburger, has become the subject of vigorous investigations because of its close correlation to the clinical course in cancer patients. However there are yet no reports of this assay being applied to sarcoma of bone which is difficult to cultivate. To find out if this assay is useful or not for malignant bone tumors, especially osteosarcoma, 10 specimens obtained through biopsy, resection or thoracotomy were employed in the colony-forming assay. While 7 samples showed colony forming ability, the sensitivity tests were possible only in 3 specimens because of low rates of colony formation. The results of the 3 sensitivity tests corresponded appreciably to clinical courses of the patients; hence this assay seemed useful in planning a chemotherapeutic schedule for the treatment of osteosarcoma.