The use of human tumor clonogenic assay in predicting combination effect of cisplatin plus vindesine in carcinoma of the lung.

By using a human tumor clonogenic assay, cisplatin plus vindesine regimen was evaluated in 17 carcinoma of the lung. The cisplatin (0.2 microgram/ml) plus vindesine (0.005 microgram/ml) combination was synergistic and additive cell killing in 10 and 4, respectively, of 17 specimens. On the other hand, only three specimens showed antagonistic cell killing from this drug combination. Our results indicated that this in vitro assay provides a new method which can predict the effects of the combination of drugs on individual patients.