Teratogenic effects of five anticancer drugs on Xenopus laevis embryos

• Lethal and teratogenic toxicity of anticancer drugs were assessed on frog embryos.
• FETAX is a reliable method to detect growth inhibition and sub-lethal effects.
• Drugs induced dose-dependent frequencies of developmental malformations.

In recent years, the environmental presence of pharmaceuticals - including anticancer drugs - is an emerging issue. Because of the lack of appropriate critical studies about anticancer drug effects in frogs, the aim of the present study was to investigate lethal and teratogenic effects of five anticancer drugs widely used in large quantities, i.e. 5-flourouracil, capecitabine, cisplatin, etoposide, and imatinib, in the embryos of the South African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, using FETAX - Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay in Xenopus. None of the studied anticancer drugs induced statistically significant mortality within the concentrations tested (0.01–50 mg/L, depending on the studied compound), and no growth inhibition of embryos after a 96-h exposure was observed. Except for cisplatin, the other pharmaceuticals induced an increase of developmental malformations such as abdominal edema, axial flexure, head, eyes, gut and heart malformations with statistically significant effects observed at the highest concentrations tested (50 mg/L for 5-flourouracil; 30 mg/L for etoposide and 20 mg/L for capecitabine and imatinib). The results indicate that anticancer drugs can affect embryogenesis mechanisms.