Translational research in oncology: the need of additional in vitro preclinical testing methods for new drugs.
Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death in the Western world. Despite bold advances in therapeutic oncology, new drug development is infamously ineffective due to the lack of predictive in vitro models. Most patients that suffer from cancer do not die from the primary tumor but due to the development of metastases. And yet current in vitro screening methods for new drugs in oncology still largely target cytotoxicity or the inhibition of cell growth, in which a potential anti-metastatic activity cannot be assessed. Herein the current in vitro models in oncology are reviewed and a new rationale for the pre-clinical development of specific, anti-metastatic therapeutic agents is introduced.
Bayer HealthCare, Regulatory Affairs Dept., Wuppertal, Germany.
Theodore L
TL
Drell
Kurt S
KS
Zanker
Frank
F
Entschladen
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents