Cytotoxicity Assay for Anti-Cancer Drugs

Cytotoxicity Assay for Anti-Cancer Drugs - Fast & Reliable Analysis

Evaluating the cytotoxicity of anti-cancer drug combinations is essential for

developing effective chemotherapy regimens. In a recent study, Dr. Weinreich

used the CASY Cell Counter to assess chemosensitivity and cell viability in gastric

adenocarcinoma and non-malignant cell lines.

By using a label-free and highly precise approach, the CASY Cytotoxicity Assay

provides fast, reproducible assessment of anti-cancer drug regimens, helping

researchers to identify novel polychemotherapy strategies with broder therapeutic

windows.

Why Cytotoxicity Assays Matter in Cancer Research

Chemotherapy drug combinations, such as epirubicin, cisplatin, and fluorouracil

(ECF), are widely used in gastric cancer treatment. However, new drug

combinations may provide greater efficacy and fewer side effects.

Key Considerations in Cytotoxicity Testing:

• Evaluating cell viability and drug sensitivity

• Assessing the impact of different drug combinations on malignant and nonmalignant

cells

• Identifying new chemotherapy regimens with improved therapeutic potential

CASY Cytotoxicity Assay - How It Works

with the standard ECF regimen and a novel duplex drug (D-D) chemotherapy

combination. The CASY Cytotoxicity Assay was used to measure growth

inhibition over 5, 10, and 14 days.

Key Features of CASY Cytotoxicity Assays:

• Precise viability analysis without the need for staining

• Exclusion of dead cells and debris for accurate results

• Statistically relevant data from triplicate measurements

• Monitoring of cell growth inhibition in real-time

Results demonstrated that the D-D chemotherapy regimen was more effective

against malignant gastric cancer cells than non-malignant cells, making it a

promising alternative to standard treatments.

Cytotoxicity Assays using CASY enable us to perform fast, simple and reliable assessment of anti-cancer drug regimens and the subsequent chemosensitivity of carcinoma cell lines. A major advantage of CASY is that debris and dead cells can be masked in the analysis by a simple cell line specific setup and only viable cells and their aggregates are considered. However, as a complete cell status is recorded, also dead cells and debris data are available at any time"
Dr. J. Weinreich, Experimentelle Onkologie, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Germany:

Cytotoxicity Assay for Anti-Cancer Drugs Casy Screenshot

Fig. 1 CASY screenshot of MKN45 cell count. Day 0, Start of Experiment. Viability = 95.6%, 2.7*106 viable cells/mL.

LML: Viable cells/mL

VIA: %Viability

AGG: Aggregation

CL, CR: Evaluation cursors

NL, NR: Normalization cursors

Fig. 3 CASY screenshot of MKN45 cell count. Day 7, 0.86 µmol/L D-D. Viability = 92.4%, 9.5*105 viable cells/mL

Cytotoxicity Assay for Anti-Cancer Drugs Casy Screenshot

Fig. 4 Cell growth of MKN-45 cells after treatment with EC D-D.

red: E= 0,37; C=0,45; D-D=0,41 µmol/L

pink: E= 0,15; C=0,18; D-D=0,16 µmol/L

blue: E= 0,075; C=0,09; D-D=0,082 µmol/L

yellow: PBS control

References

Weinreich J, Archid R, Bajaeifer K, Hack A, Königsrainer A, Schott TC. Growth and Chemosensitivity of Gastric Adenocarcinoma and Non-Malignant Cell Lines in Response to Novel Anti-Cancer Drug Combinations. Chemotherapy. 2014; 60(5-6):346-352. DOI: 10.1159/000438943. Epub 2015 Aug 29.

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