Abstract
PURPOSE: This study was carried out to assess the usage of an in vivo hollow fiber assay to screen drugs with highly predictive accuracy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The assay systems used were the hollow fiber and xenografts assays. The hollow fiber assay was carried out with the following steps; preparation of fibers, preparation of cells, loading and implanting fibers, treatment with drugs, removal of fibers and assaying for the cell viability by the MTT assay. For the xenografts assay, cell suspensions were subcutaneously transplanted into the mice. Therapy was started when the tumor volume reached 100 approximately 200 mm(3). The tumor volumes were calculated using the formula V=[length+(width)(2)]/2, and used for evaluating the efficacy of the drugs. The drug treatment doses used were adriamycin 2.1 mg/kg, mitomycin-C 0.25 mg/kg, 5-fluorouracil 24.5 mg/kg and paclitaxel 2.5 mg/kg, and administrated intravenously five times daily. RESULTS: The correlation between the xenografts and hollow fiber assays was evaluated in 20 tumor cell lines and 4 anti-cancer agents. In the 20 tumor cell lines, the overall predictive accuracy of the hollow fiber assay for sensitivity was 83%, with a predictive accuracy for resistance of 92%. CONCLUSION: The hollow fiber assay was assessed as effective in drug efficacy evaluation, and found to be compatible with that of the xenografts assay.