Cell survival in four ovarian carcinoma xenografts following in vitro exposure to melphalan, cisplatin and cis-diammine-1,1-cyclobutane dicarboxylate platinum II (CBDCA,JM8).

Four human ovarian carcinoma xenografts were established and maintained in immune-suppressed mice. Cells obtained from these xenografts were exposed in vitro to melphalan, JM8, and cisplatin; cell survival following a 1-h exposure was measured using a soft-agar colony assay. A similar dose-response curve was obtained with melphalan for each of the four xenografts, despite previous treatment with an alkylating agent in two of the patients from whom the xenografts originated. Cell survival was also compared after JM8 and cisplatin exposure in each individual xenograft. It was found to be similar for each tumour when the concentrations of JM8 used were 10-fold greater than those of cisplatin. Early clinical studies in which JM8 has been shown to be effective in the treatment of ovarian carcinoma support the view that xenograft tumours may have a role in phase-II screening of new cytotoxic agents.