The Cytotoxicity of Gold and Silver Polyacrylates for Tumor Cells

A study of the cytotoxic activities of two polyacrylic acid-based compounds containing gold (aurumacryl) and silver (argacryl) against a panel of human tumor cell cultures (769-P, Caki-2, SK-RC-1 renal carcinoma lines, BT-474 breast carcinoma, and NCI-H211 small cell lung carcinoma) was carried out in vitro. The results we obtained were analyzed in comparison with the data established earlier for other cell cultures (MCF-7 breast carcinoma, A-549 lung carcinoma, HCT116 colon carcinoma, and Mel Me melanoma). The IC₅₀ cytotoxic index of drugs for the nine tested tumor cell lines ranged from 0.8 to 5.2 μg/mL for aurumacryl and from 0.2 to 14.4 μg/mL for argacryl (in terms of gold and silver content, respectively), depending on the type of tumor. Significant differences were found in the spectra of the lethal effects of aurumacryl and argacryl against tumor cells of various types.