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YOU need chemo, but which drug will kill the cancer? Injecting a mini diagnostic lab into the tumour could work better than the normal trial-and-error approach.
A device developed by Presage Biosciences in Seattle uses six needles to inject different drugs, along with coloured dyes, into a tumour. After 24 hours, part of the tumour is removed, and the various dyed regions inspected to see which drug killed most cells.
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In mice, the device correctly predicted which drugs worked best. Studies in people showed it caused only mild discomfort (Science Translational Medicine, ). 鈥淭his can fast-track our ability to rethink standard chemotherapy,鈥� says Neil Watkins of the Garvan Institute in Sydney.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淢ini lab tests drugs inside a tumour鈥�