Rhodamine-123 selectively reduces clonal growth of carcinoma cells in vitro.

Rhodamine-123, a cationic laser dye, markedly reduced the clonal growth of carcinoma cells but had little effect on nontumorigenic epithelial cells in vitro. This selective inhibitory effect of Rhodamine-123 on some carcinomas is unusual since known anticancer drugs, such as arabinosyl cytosine and methotrexate, have not been shown to exhibit such selectivity in vitro.