Functional precision cancer medicine: drug sensitivity screening enabled by cell culture models

Åsmund Flobak; Sigrid S Skånland; Eivind Hovig; Kjetil Taskén; Hege G Russnes

doi:10.1016/j.tips.2022.08.009

Functional precision cancer medicine: drug sensitivity screening enabled by cell culture models

Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2022 Nov;43(11):973-985. doi: 10.1016/j.tips.2022.08.009. Epub 2022 Sep 23.

Authors

Åsmund Flobak¹, Sigrid S Skånland², Eivind Hovig³, Kjetil Taskén⁴, Hege G Russnes⁵

Affiliations

¹ The Cancer Clinic, St. Olav University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway; Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
² Department of Cancer Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; K.G. Jebsen Centre for B Cell Malignancies, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
³ Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Informatics, Centre for Bioinformatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Department of Cancer Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; K.G. Jebsen Centre for B Cell Malignancies, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: kjetil.tasken@medisin.uio.no.
⁵ Department of Pathology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Cancer Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

PMID: 36163057
DOI: 10.1016/j.tips.2022.08.009

Abstract

Functional precision medicine is a new, emerging area that can guide cancer treatment by capturing information from direct perturbations of tumor-derived, living cells, such as by drug sensitivity screening. Precision cancer medicine as currently implemented in clinical practice has been driven by genomics, and current molecular tumor boards rely extensively on genomic characterization to advise on therapeutic interventions. However, genomic biomarkers can only guide treatment decisions for a fraction of the patients. In this review we provide an overview of the current state of functional precision medicine, highlight advances for drug-sensitivity screening enabled by cell culture models, and discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) can be coupled to functional precision medicine to guide patient stratification.

Keywords: cancer diagnostics; drug sensitivity testing; functional precision medicine; molecular tumor board; patient stratification.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Artificial Intelligence
Biomarkers, Tumor
Cell Culture Techniques
Early Detection of Cancer
Humans
Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Precision Medicine*

Substances

Biomarkers, Tumor