Translational Research in Oncology: The Need of Additional In Vitro Preclinical Testing Methods for New Drugs

Abstract

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.

Re-Use of Established Drugs for Anti-Metastatic Indications

“…This applies not only to new drugs, but, in light of drug repurposing, even old drugs should by tested by means of such new models. These new models comprise tumor cell functions that have not been tested before, e.g., angiogenesis and migration [ 3 ], but may also apply to the elaboration of conventional cytotoxicity tests, e.g., by the use of spheroid models instead of classic cell culture. However, herein we focus on the example of anti-metastatic drugs and on tumor cell migration as its valid surrogate.…”