Chemo Sensitivity Testing

Chemo sensitivity testing takes a sample of tissue or fluid from the tumor itself and tests chemo therapeutic agents in a lab before a chosen agent or combination is introduced to the body. This allows an oncologist to better predict how a tumor will react to the specific protocols before prescribing them. If the therapy kills the cancer cells, the oncologist knows it will do the same once it is introduced to your body. If it does not, then that treatment is given a lower priority in favor of other, more effective treatments.

This is important because standard treatments often do not work, and because chemo therapeutic agents have harsh and toxic side effects that can also last long after the treatment is over. Prioritizing these choices helps you get on the right treatment and avoid unnecessary side effects from treatments that may not work.

Every patient can benefit from knowing how chemotherapy will affect their tumor before consenting to treatment. After all, there is nothing more disheartening than enduring the toxic side effects of chemo only to discover the cancer has not responded.

More specifically patients:

• with aggressive disease or disease of unknown origin
• with advanced stage cancer or metastasis
• where the cancer has recurred
• whose cancer is not responding to traditional treatments
• with multiple treatment options
• experiencing too many side effects from my current treatment
• being told that there are no other treatment options available to me
• that have or (or think they may have) developed resistance to their current treatment

Armed with live tumor tissue or fluid, your treatment team can customize a therapy that will offer you the best chance for recovery.