Suppressing the promotion phase

Many in vitro studies have been undertaken to explore the relative effectiveness of isothiocyanates, and associated compounds, as inhibitors of cell growth and inducers of apoptosis in cell lines, and some of these are summarised in Table 4.2. Clonal survival studies are often used to determine whether isothiocyanates inhibit initial cell anchorage and subsequent growth of sparsely seeded cells. However, differences in cell number following challenge with the isothiocyanate could be due either to decreased cell division or increased cell loss, and the authors of some in vitro studies have failed to recognise this. Other studies have, however, considered the interacting 

Cell system Relative antiproliferative response Reference 

HT29 (colorectal) CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) SVM(muntjac cells) BITC PEITC PEITC AITC AITC BITC PEITC PITC Musk et al. (5) 

HeLa PHITC PEITC = PBITC = PMITC PITC Yu et al. (81) 

HT29 AITC BITC PEITC sulforaphane Limd et al. (90) 

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