A predictive screening model for in vitro selection of agents with potential antitumor activity

In vitro methods are often used to pre-select compounds with potential antitumor activity before animal testing. This study presents a second stage screening model used to further evaluate compounds which demonstrate interesting antiproliferative activity towards tumor cell lines. The model is based on an antiproliferative assay evaluating 125I-5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine incorporation in DNA after 66 h compound-cells contact, carried out on a human leukemic cell line (HL-60) and bone marrow cells (BM) from healthy donors. The model identifies compounds which are more toxic against normal cells than tumor cells (unsuitable compounds) and focuses attention on the highly selective compounds. Compounds belonging to a third group identified by the model need to be further studied to ascertain their anticancer properties.