Cancer, a group of diseases of unregulated cell proliferation, is a leading cause of death worldwide. More than 80% of compounds which have shown promising effects in preclinical studies could not get through Phase II of clinical trials. Such high attrition rate is due to improper or selective use of preclinical modalities in anticancer drug screening. The various preclinical screening methods available such as in vitro human cancer cell lines, in vivo tumor xenograft model, or genetically engineered mouse model have their respective pros and cons. Scrupulous use of these preclinical screening methods vis-à-vis efficacy of potential anticancer compound with diverse mechanism of action can help in bringing down the rate of failure of anticancer compound at clinical phase. This article provides an insight into the various preclinical methods used in anticancer studies along with their advantages and disadvantages.
Keywords: Cancer epidemiology; cell line prescreen; genetically engineered mouse; xenograft.