Chemosensitivity testing of clinical gastrointestinal cancers using histoculture and the MTT end-point.

Three-dimensional histoculture with the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H tetrazolium bromide (MTT) end-point was utilized for chemosensitivity testing of 100 clinical gastrointestinal cancers and the results were compared with those obtained with cell-suspension culture with the MTT end-point. Of the 100 surgical specimens, 91 were evaluable using histoculture assay and 66 were evaluable using the cell-suspension assay. When the assay results were compared with historical frequency of clinical response to chemotherapy, the results of the histoculture assay showed a closer correlation than those of the cell-suspension assay. Therefore, the histoculture assay seems to have a higher evaluability rate and a closer correlation with clinical chemosensitivity of gastrointestinal cancers than the cell-suspension assay.