Prediction of clinical response to drugs in ovarian cancer using the chemotherapy resistance test (CTR-test)

Abstract

BackgroundIn order to validate if the test result of the Chemotherapy Resistance Test (CTR-Test) is able to predict the resistances or sensitivities of tumors in ovarian cancer patients to drugs, the CTR-Test result and the corresponding clinical response of individual patients were correlated retrospectively. Results were compared to previous recorded correlations.MethodsThe CTR-Test was performed on tumor samples from 52 ovarian cancer patients for specific chemotherapeutic drugs. Patients were treated with monotherapies or drug combinations. Resistances were classified as extreme (ER), medium (MR) or slight (SR) resistance in the CTR-Test. Combination treatment resistances were transformed by a scoring system into these classifications.ResultsAccurate sensitivity prediction was accomplished in 79% of the cases and accurate prediction of resistance in 100% of the cases in the total data set. The data set of single agent treatment and drug combination treatment were analyzed individually. Single agent treatment lead to an accurate sensitivity in 44% of the cases and the drug combination to 95% accuracy. The detection of resistances was in both cases to 100% correct. ROC curve analysis indicates that the CTR-Test result correlates with the clinical response, at least for the combination chemotherapy. Those values are similar or better than the values from a publication from 1990.ConclusionsChemotherapy resistance testing in vitro via the CTR-Test is able to accurately detect resistances in ovarian cancer patients. These numbers confirm and even exceed results published in 1990. Better sensitivity detection might be caused by a higher percentage of drug combinations tested in 2012 compared to 1990. Our study confirms the functionality of the CTR-Test to plan an efficient chemotherapeutic treatment for ovarian cancer patients.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13048-017-0365-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Biological Insights into Chemotherapy Resistance in Ovarian Cancer

“…Another approach for predicting the response to chemotherapy is to perform in vitro growth assays using fresh tumor samples exposed to chemotherapy [11]. The sensitivity and specificity of these in vitro assays vary, but they do show promise as a possible means to predict patient response, although they have not yet had widespread use in a clinical setting [12,13,14].…”

Real‑time assessment of platinum sensitivity of primary culture from a patient with ovarian cancer with extensive metastasis and the platinum sensitivity enhancing effect by metformin

“…However, the majority of patients eventually become resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs and this causes the prognosis of these patients to be unsatisfactory ( 20 ). Previous studies for ovarian cancer were primarily based on cells generated from primary lesions ( 21 , 22 ), and few of these studies focused on the omentum ( 23 ). It has been suggested that metastatic cancer is a markedly heterogeneous disease at the genetic, transcriptomic and microenvironment levels ( 24 ).…”

The Emerging Role of the SLCO1B3 Protein in Cancer Resistance

“…Once chemoresistance occurs, few therapeutic options exist. Moreover, studies reported that chemotherapy resistance is associated with poor prognosis [ 6 ] and tumor relapse [ 7 , 8 ]. Understanding the mechanisms of chemoresistance is crucial for finding new strategies and better cancer therapy.…”