Chemosensitivity of uterine cervical cancer demonstrated by the histoculture drug response assay.

Uterine cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death in the female population worldwide. In vitro chemosensitivity test is important to find effective drugs in uterine cervical cancer that requires the established chemotherapeutic strategies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the chemosensitivity of uterine cervical cancer using the histoculture drug response assay (HDRA). Sixty-five fresh tumor tissues were obtained from patients with cervical cancer: 47 squamous cell carcinomas, 11 adenocarcinomas, and 7 adenosquamous cell carcinomas. The median age was 44 years (range, 25-74 years), and the median follow-up duration was 26.3 months (range, 1.6-52.7 months). The clinical stage by the International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO) was stage I of 80.0% (52/65) and stage IIA of 13.8% (9/65). The inhibition rates of ten chemotherapeutic agents against these cancer tissues were tested using the HDRA method according to established methods. Five agents were evaluated as sensitive drugs in cervical cancer with inhibition rates of greater than 30%: 41.0% for carboplatin, 35.0% for cisplatin, 33.8% for paclitaxel, 41.4% for belotecan, and 49.2% for topotecan. Especially, carboplatin combined with paclitaxel showed an inhibition rate of 54.0%, which was higher than any other single agent. However, there were no noticeable differences in chemosensitivity according to histopathologic types and FIGO stage. Despite such limitation, the HDRA may be a promising chemosensitivity test to predict an effective drug for each patient. The HDRA could provide useful information that is invaluable for the design of individualized treatments in patients with cervical cancer.