Cytotoxic effects of palladium (II) and platinum (II) complexes with O,O'-dialkyl esters of (S,S)-ethylenediamine-N,N'-di-2-(4-methyl) pentanoic acid on human colon cancer cell lines.

PURPOSE: As novel therapeutic agents relevant to colon cancer therapy are explored continuously, we tested 4 R2edda-type ligand precursors O,O'-dialkyl esters of (S,S)-ethylenediamine-N,N'-di-2-(4-methyl)pentanoic acid (L1.2HCl-L4.2HCl) and corresponding palladium(II) and platinum(II) complexes against the human colon cancer cell lines CaCo-2, SW480 and HCT116. METHODS: The effects of the tested compounds on cell viability were determined using MTT colorimetric technique. RESULTS: Analysis of cancer cell viability showed that all tested ligand precursors, palladium(II) and platinum(II) complexes were cytotoxic on human colon cancer cells in dose-dependent manner. The cytotoxic activity of all palladium(II) and platinum(II) complexes toward selected cancer cells was significantly higher in comparison to cisplatin. Among the tested platinum(II) and palladium(II) complexes the lowest activity was observed for the compounds with the shortest ester chain and the highest activity was noted for palladium(II) complex No.2 with the n-Pr group in ester chain and for platinum(II) complex No.7 with the n-Bu group in ester chain. CONCLUSION: Palladium(II) complex No.2 and platinum(II) complex No.7 seem to be good candidates for future pharmacological evaluation in the field of colon cancer research and treatment.

A new semiquantitative method for evaluation of metastasis progression.

PURPOSE: Although recent technical advancements are directed toward developing novel assays and methods for detection of micro and macro metastasis, there are still no reports of reliable, simple to use imaging software that could be used for the detection and quantification of metastasis in tissue sections. We herein report a new semiquantitative method for evaluation of metastasis progression in a well established 4T1 orthotopic mouse model of breast cancer metastasis. METHODS: The new semiquantitative method presented here was implemented by using the Autodesk AutoCAD 2012 program, a computer-aided design program used primarily for preparing technical drawings in 2 dimensions. RESULTS: By using the Autodesk AutoCAD 2012 software- aided graphical evaluation we managed to detect each metastatic lesion and we precisely calculated the average percentage of lung and liver tissue parenchyma with metastasis in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice. The data were highly specific and relevant to descriptive histological analysis, confirming reliability and accuracy of the AutoCAD 2012 software as new method for quantification of metastatic lesions. CONCLUSION: The new semiquantitative method using AutoCAD 2012 software provides a novel approach for the estimation of metastatic progression in histological tissue sections.