title: Current status of methods to assess cancer drug resistance.
abstract: Drug resistance is the main cause of the failure of chemotherapy of malignant tumors, resistance being either preexisting (intrinsic resistance) or induced by the drugs (acquired resistance). At present, resistance is usually diagnosed during treatment after a long period of drug administration.In the present paper, methods for a rapid assessment of drug resistance are described. Three main classes of test procedures can be found in the literature, i.e. fresh tumor cell culture tests, cancer biomarker tests and positron emission tomography (PET) tests. The methods are based on the evaluation of molecular processes, i.e. metabolic activities of cancer cells. Drug resistance can be diagnosed before treatment in-vitro with fresh tumor cell culture tests, and after a short time of treatment in-vivo with PET tests. Cancer biomarker tests, for which great potential has been predicted, are largely still in the development stage. Individual resistance surveillance with tests delivering rapid results signifies progress in cancer therapy management, by providing the possibility to avoid drug therapies that are ineffective and only harmful.
authors.affiliation: Medical Faculty, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. Theodor-Lippert@web.de
authors.forename: Theodor H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lippert
authors.forename: Hans-Jörg
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Ruoff
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Volm
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor