A laboratory test that evaluates how close cancer cells are to a specific form of cell death could help oncologists predict which patients will benefit from chemotherapy drugs. Researchers tested samples from patients at several hospitals and showed that those whose cancer cells were on the edge of self-destructing responded better to various kinds of chemotherapy.
The test helps explain a long-standing puzzle in oncology. Cancer biology dogma holds that chemotherapy drugs target all rapidly dividing cells, leading to both tumor death and side effects such as hair loss and gastrointestinal distress. But some rapidly dividing tumors, such as pancreatic cancers, tend to be highly resistant to chemotherapy, while some slow-growing cancers, such as chronic myelogenous leukemia, respond well to the drugs.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Test Could Show Which Cancers Will Respond to Chemotherapy - Technology Review
