Use of a Lactobacillus casei assay as a prescreen for potential anticancer agents: an update study

Updating an earlier report, 15 known antineoplastic agents, 11 of which are commercially available for treatment of human cancers, were tested for growth-inhibitory activity in a Lactobacillus casei system to determine if this microbial system could select them as "active." Although we previously reported that over 160 compounds tested in this assay were inactive, 11 of the 15 known antineoplastic agents tested here were inhibitory. Because of this observation and the advantage that the procedure is rapid and inexpensive, this microbiological assay is recommended for consideration as a prescreen for anticancer agents.