In Vivo Antitumor Models and Drug Development

Abstract

The objective of this report is to suggest alternatives directed to resolving a growing need for more predictive tumor models in drug development as visualized in the context defined by the title of this symposium, “Cancer Chemotherapy and Selective Drug Development”. The term “selective” excludes from consideration models used in large scale drug screening programs such as that sponsored by the Division of Cancer Treatment of the United States National Cancer Institute. The rationale and methods which form the basis for such drug screening programs, with an objective analysis of the requirements of a large scale primary screen, have been discussed in-depth by Venditti (1). Therefore, for purposes of this discussion, we assume that the developmental agents to be evaluated have successfully passed large scale primary screens and have exhibited a desired level of activity that warrants additional and more stringent preclinical evaluation.