The ChemoFx assay: an ex vivo cell culture assay for predicting anticancer drug responses.

We provide a detailed description of the ChemoFx Assay, a phenotype-based cell culture assay for predicting anticancer drug responses in individual cancer patients. The ChemoFx Assay is based on the outgrowth and short-term primary culture of epithelial cells derived from pieces of solid tumor adenocarcinomas that are obtained at the time of tumor resection. Malignant epithelial cells are grown attached in wells of microtiter plates and treated with six escalating doses of chemotherapeutic drug.

Differential in vitro effects of chemotherapeutic agents on primary cultures of human ovarian carcinoma.

The treatment of ovarian cancer principally relies on the use of platinum and taxane chemotherapeutic agents. Short-term clinical results have been encouraging, but long-term responses remain limited. In this report, an in vitro assay system that utilizes cells grown from human tumor explants has been used to quantitatively evaluate responses to relevant concentrations of alternative chemotherapeutic agents.

Metastatic lung disease to the central nervous system: in vitro response to chemotherapeutic agents.

Background: Metastatic lung disease to the central nervous system (CNS) comprises a significant percentage of cranial metastases. For those cases where chemotherapy may be of palliative or therapeutic benefit, in vitro chemoresponse testing may identify the agent(s) most likely to be effective clinically.

Methods: Tumor-derived cell cultures were established from 14 surgically excised lung lesions metastatic to the CNS.

Breast cancer--response rates to chemotherapeutic agents studied in vitro.

Background: The biological efficacy of, and spectrum of action of, agents used in treatment of breast cancer are important issues in therapy planning.

Materials And Methods: Techniques used involve monolayer culture and a quantitative microtiter plate-based chemo-response assay. Precision Therapeutics' overall assessability rate is 90% for tumors of all types.

Evidence for the isolation, growth, and characterization of malignant cells in primary cultures of human tumors.

Isolation and growth of malignant cells from solid tumors have often met with disappointing results. Consequently, we have developed a cell culture methodology based on ex vivo explantation of tumor tissue, with subsequent monolayer cell outgrowth. In an attempt to assess methods for detection of malignant cells in these cultures, we analyzed and compared the results of cytopathology, growth in soft agar, and detection of telomerase activity with those of standard immunohistochemistry (IHC) techniques for the detection of cytokeratins, tumor marker p53, and proliferation marker Ki-67.