Abstract 228: A novel device to perform rapid high-throughput in vivo drug sensitivity testing and identify optimal drug therapy for personalized cancer treatment

Abstract We have developed an implantable device that can perform drug sensitivity testing of a large number of anti-cancer agents inside the living tumor. This device contains reservoirs that release microdoses of single agents or drug combinations into distinct spatial regions of the tumor in local concentrations that are representative of concentrations achieved during systemic drug treatment. Local efficacy and drug concentration profile are evaluated for each drug or combination on the device, and the local efficacy was confirmed to be an excellent predictor of systemic efficacy across multiple drugs and tumor models. Currently up to 16 individual drugs or combinations can be assessed independently, without systemic drug exposure, through minimally invasive biopsy of a small region of a single tumor. Moreover, this assay takes into consideration physiologic effects that contribute to drug response by allowing drugs to interact with the living tumor in its native microenvironment. Because these effects are crucial to predicting drug response we envision that these devices will help identify optimal drug therapy before systemic treatment is initiated and could significantly extend drug response prediction beyond the predictive biomarkers used today. These devices may also potentially be used in clinical drug development to safely gather efficacy data on new compounds before pharmacological optimization. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Oliver Jonas. A novel device to perform rapid high-throughput in vivo drug sensitivity testing and identify optimal drug therapy for personalized cancer treatment. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 228. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-228