The usage of chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of head and neck squamous cell cancer has been recognized as relatively limited in clinical effectiveness and as an adjunctive modality secondary to surgery or radiation therapy. However, its
use
became more prevalent in head and neck malignancies due to the introduction of adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy and to the idea of improving quality of life by organ preservation.
The authors confirmed the cytotoxic activity of 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, methotrexate, bleomycin, vincristine, carboplatin, ifosfamide, etoposide, and taxol in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines, SNU 899, and SNU 1041 by
tetrazolium
based colorimetric assay (MTT assay).
The authors produced a standard curve to compare the absorbance per cell number between cell lines. Then the proper cell number for initial inoculation from growth rate curve was chosen, on the base of which the chemosensitivity to the various
drugs was
evaluated.
As a result, cisplatin, carboplatin and taxol exhibited a definite concentration-dependent growth inhibition and 5-FU, bleomycin and etoposide also did but indefinitely. Vincristine and methotrexate exhibited non-concentration-dependent growth
inhibition, whereas ifosfamide showed resistance within the range of concentration. The available ID50's were within 10-fold range of the serum concentration of the drugs.
This means that the MTT assay may be employed in selecting effective chemotherapeutic drugs and in adjusting their dosages for use in clinical settings. (Korean J Otolaryngol 38:8, 1995)
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