Exploring Preclinical Cancer Models
Tumors consist of a heterogeneous mixture of malignant and normal cells in the parenchyma, fenestrated with an abnormally structured stroma. The inter-patient, and even inter- or intra-tumor, variability expressed by all types of cancer makes the design and testing of medications a challenging prospect.
Predicting the efficacy and toxicity of cancer therapies is key to establishing new drug leads and designing treatment regimens, so researchers have developed a variety of cancer models that allow each aspect to be analyzed at the
In vitro cancer models
Oncogenes are genes that have the potential to cause cancer if allowed to run out of control, usually because they control for functions of the cell such as growth or mitosis. Tumor suppressor genes have the opposite function, being involved in tasks such as inducing controlled apoptosis. Mutations on one or both of these types of genes leads to uncontrolled cell growth, cancer.