Background: Oxaliplatin is a 3rd generation platinum analogue, which is active in a broad spectrum of tumours. Clinical trials using this drug in bladder cancer are underway, but not yet reported. There are currently no in vitro data regarding oxaliplatin in bladder cancer. Therefore, this study compares the efficacy of oxaliplatin with cisplatin and carboplatin, which are both used widely in this tumour type, in bladder cancer cell lines.
Method: The efficacy of oxaliplatin, carboplatin and cisplatin were compared in 4 bladder cancer cell lines (5637, J82, HT1197 and 253J). Cell parameters including cell number, viability and apoptosis were assessed after 3 days of drug exposure. The effects of the drugs on the cell cycle were also observed.
Results: Overall cisplatin was the most potent at inducing cell death (IC(50) 11.5-70.6 microM). Oxaliplatin was the 2nd most potent drug (IC(50 )15.2-126.3 microM) and carboplatin the least effective (IC(50 )75.4-137.8 microM). Carboplatin was significantly less potent at inducing cell death than the other two drugs in all 4 cell lines. Carboplatin was also inferior at inducing apoptosis in 3 of the 4 cell lines. All three drugs had a similar effect on the cell cycle, causing an initial G2 block.
Conclusions: These data suggest that oxaliplatin is a potent agent in bladder cancer cell lines and is superior to carboplatin in this in vitro setting. It justifies the clinical studies using oxaliplatin that are underway.