Why haven universities and cancer centers taken the lead in developing assays and performing clinical trials?
One needs to understand the history of research into cell culture drug resistance testing (CCDRT): One must begin by understanding that there is a clear divide between CCDRT based on cell proliferation as an endpoint and CCDRT based on cell death as an endpoint. Historically, the cell proliferation endpoint received great attention, as a result of studies by Salmon, Von Hoff, and others during the late 1970s and early 1980s. These studies occurred during the heyday of the oncogene discovery period in cancer research, where oncogene products were frequently found to be associated with cell growth, and where cancer was most prominently considered to be a disease of disordered cell growth. In contrast, the concept of apoptosis (programmed cell death) had yet to become widely recognized. Also unrecognized were the concepts that cancer may be a disease of disordered apoptosis/cell death and that the mechanisms of action of most if not all available anticancer drugs may be mediated through a
