Poster Presentation 29th Lorne Cancer Conference 2017

In vitro drug sensitivity testing of high risk childhood cancer patient cells for personalised drug treatments (#155)

Tim W Failes 1 2 , Shu-Oi Chow 1 2 , Anna Mariana 1 2 , Carol Wadham 2 , Toby Trahair 2 , Karen Mackenzie 2 , Emily Mould 2 , Jamie I Fletcher 2 , Alvin Kamili 2 , Maria Tsoli 2 , David Ziegler 2 , Richard Lock 2 , Angela Xie 2 , Rosemary Sutton 2 , Murray Norris 2 , Michelle Haber 2 , Greg M Arndt 1 2
  1. ACRF Drug Discovery Centre for Childhood Cancer, Childrens Cancer Institute, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
  2. Children's Cancer Institute, Randwick, NSW, Australia

The identification of patients that will or will not respond to a specific chemotherapy or targeted therapy has the potential to assist in the treatment and management of childhood and adult cancer patients. In vitro laboratory-based assays for determining the sensitivity of patient-derived cells to specific anticancer agents would provide a means of optimising the chemotherapeutic regimen for a specific patient and potentially improve treatment response rates. As part of a larger Precision Medicine Program being developed by Children’s Cancer Institute to be rolled out in a nationwide clinical trial in 2017, the ACRF Drug Discovery Centre for Childhood Cancer is implementing in vitro drug sensitivity testing assays, using highly sensitive cell viability assays and high content imaging, to assess the sensitivity or resistance of childhood cancer patient cells to a range of chemotherapeutic and targeted drugs. In this presentation, we review the in vitro drug sensitivity testing platform, highlight examples of cell testing and discuss the potential of this platform for rapidly finding the right treatment for the right patient, especially for high risk patients that will not respond to current standard-of-care and those patients that undergo relapse and require new treatment plans.