ABSTRACT
Five new copper (I) complexes have been tested for their, in vitro cytotoxicity on chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and human ovarian carcinoma PA-1 cell lines using MTT assay. The compounds exhibited encouraging cytotoxicity at of 1, 2, 4 & 8 micrograms/ml doses. They were further tested for cytotoxicity on human ovarian carcinoma cells obtained from five different patients previously untreated with antineoplastic drugs and radiation. Standard antitumor drugs like cis-platin, adriamycin and etoposide were also included as positive control. Cytotoxicity of compounds C3, C4 and C5 (IC50 0.7, 1.25 and 1.4 micrograms/ml respectively) was found to be superior to adriamycin (IC50 2.8 micrograms/ml) but less effective than cisplatin (IC50 < 0.1 microgram/ml) on human ovarian carcinoma cells.