The ChemoFx assay: an ex vivo chemosensitivity and resistance assay for predicting patient response to cancer chemotherapy

Methods Mol Biol. 2008:414:57-78. doi: 10.1007/978-1-59745-339-4_6.

Abstract

The ChemoFx Assay is an ex vivo assay designed to predict the sensitivity and resistance of a given patient's solid tumor to a variety of chemotherapy agents. A portion of a patient's solid tumor, as small as a core biopsy, is mechanically disaggregated and established in primary culture where malignant epithelial cells migrate out of tumor explants to form a monolayer. Cultures are verified as epithelial and exposed to increasing doses of selected chemotherapeutic agents. The number of live cells remaining post-treatment is enumerated microscopically using automated cell-counting software. The resultant cell counts in treated wells are compared with those in untreated control wells to generate a dose-response curve for each chemotherapeutic agent tested on a given patient specimen. Features of each dose-response curve are used to score a tumor's response to each ex vivo treatment as "responsive," "intermediate response," or "non-responsive." Collectively, these scores are used to assist an oncologist in making treatment decisions.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use*
  • Cell Count
  • Cell Culture Techniques / methods
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Evaluation / methods*
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm*
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry / methods
  • Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Prognosis
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured