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Grant support

This research was funded by Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Programa Propio UPM 2020-contratos predoctorales), Asociacion para la Difusion de Avances Oncologicos (ADAO), the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU) (PID2021-122711NB-C21), Comunidad de Madrid-Doctorados industriales (IND2022/BMD-23595 and IND2023/BMD-28759) and Asociacion Espanola contra el Cancer (2022-AYUDA-33655). Nageru S.L. had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Analysis of institutional authors

Sanchez-Diez, MartaCorresponding AuthorGavira-O'Neill, Clara EAuthorQuiroz-Troncoso, JosefaAuthorGonzalez-Martos, RaquelAuthorRamirez-Castillejo, CarmenCorresponding AuthorPastor, Juan ManuelAuthor

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March 13, 2025
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Assessment of Cell Viability in Drug Therapy: IC50 and Other New Time-Independent Indices for Evaluating Chemotherapy Efficacy

Publicated to:Pharmaceutics. 17 (2): 247- - 2025-02-01 17(2), DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics17020247

Authors: Sanchez-Diez, Marta; Romero-Jimenez, Paula; Alegria-Aravena, Nicolas; Gavira-O'Neill, Clara E; Vicente-Garcia, Elena; Quiroz-Troncoso, Josefa; Gonzalez-Martos, Raquel; Ramirez-Castillejo, Carmen; Pastor, Juan Manuel

Affiliations

Fdn Cient AECC, Asociac Espanola Canc AECC, Albacete 02004, Spain - Author
Grp Interdisciplinar Sistemas Complejos GISC, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
Inst Invest Sanitaria San Carlos IdISSC, Dept Oncol, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
Nageru SL, Madrid 28045, Spain - Author
Univ Castilla La Mancha UCLM, Inst Desarrollo Reg IDR, Albacete 02071, Spain - Author
Univ Castilla La Mancha UCLM, Inst Invest Recursos Cineget IREC, Albacete 02071, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, CTB CTB UPM Ctr Tecnol Biomed, Pozuelo De Alarcon 28223, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Escuela Tecn Super Ingn Agron Alimentaria & Biosis, Dept BiotecnologiAbiol Vegetal, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Grp Sistemas Complejos, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Background/Objectives: Cell viability assays play a crucial role in cancer research and the development of effective treatments. Evaluating the efficacy of conventional treatments across different tumor profiles is essential for understanding patient resistance to chemotherapy and relapse. The IC50 index has been commonly used as a guide in these assays. The idea behind the IC50 index is to compare cell proliferation under treatment with respect to a control population exposed to the same treatment. The index requires normalization to a control and is time dependent. These aspects are disadvantages, as small variations yield different results. In this article, we propose a new method to analyze cell viability assays. Methods: This method involves calculating the effective growth rate for both control (untreated) cells and cells exposed to a range of drug doses for short times, during which exponential proliferation can be assumed. The concentration dependence of the effective growth rate gives a real estimate of the treatment on cell proliferation. A curve fit of the effective growth rate related to concentration yields the concentration corresponding to a given effective growth rate. Results: We use this estimation to calculate the IC50 index and introduce two new parameters (ICr0 and ICrmed) to compare treatment efficacy under different culture conditions or cell lines. Conclusions: In summary, this study presents a new method to analyze cell viability assays and introduces two more precise parameters, improving the comparison and evaluation of efficacy under different conditions.

Keywords

CancerCell viabilityDrug resistancDrug resistanceEffective growth rateIc50Mathematical modelModeSensitivitySpheroids

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Pharmaceutics due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 34/352, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Pharmacology & Pharmacy. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-27:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 26 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

    It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

    • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

    Leadership analysis of institutional authors

    There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (SANCHEZ DIEZ, MARTA) and Last Author (PASTOR RUIZ, JUAN MANUEL).

    the authors responsible for correspondence tasks have been SANCHEZ DIEZ, MARTA and RAMIREZ CASTILLEJO, MARIA DEL CARMEN.