Systematic study on the cytotoxic and/or cytostatic effects of over twenty anticancer drugs: The crucial importance of the analytical approach and data processing

Abstract

The aim of this study was to clarify the real cytotoxic effect of anticancer substances, by using a highly standardized analytical approach and precise data processing.Over twenty anticancer drugs (new generations) were tested on cultured cell lines. Cell viability and proliferation were analysed and different data processing was applied. Based on the conventional approach for calculation of cell viability as a percentage from the respective control, all drugs could be characterized as cytotoxic. Based on the effect of the drugs on the number of viable cells in each treated sample (compared to the initial value), they could be divided in threegroups: (i) cytotoxic drugs; (ii) strongly cytostatic drugs, but not cytotoxic; (iii) drugs without effect on cell viability and with comparatively weak cytostatic effect. The study shows the crucial importance of the analytical approach and the data processing. It is obligatory to control the effect of the drug on the number of viable cancer cells during the treatment, comparing to the initial value. In most cases, the cancer cells stay alive in the presence of drug(depending on the selecting dose) and it is a matter of time these cells to start to proliferate again after termination of the treatment