Drug Resistant Tumour Models
Preclinical research tools for evaluation of drug resistance
Drug resistance of tumors refers to the phenomenon where tumor cells in the patient’s body develop higher tolerability to the original therapy post a period of treatment, leading to a compromised therapeutic benefit and disease progression. The development of resistance may be due to the presence of pre-existing tumor cell populations which are not responsive to the original treatment. These populations can survive from the treatment and proliferate, leading to recurrence. It is also possible that, during the treatment process, tumor cells acquire the resistance out of genomic alternation, epigenetic changes, metabolism and immune regulations, etc.
The occurrence of drug resistance is both universal and individualized. Specifically, resistance can potentially arise for various types of drugs or treatments, and the underlying mechanisms may also vary from patient to patient.
Resistant models are important preclinical research tools for drug resistance mechanism study and development of novel therapeutic drugs or strategies. In Medicilon, we exploit drug exposure induction approach for drug resistant model development purpose. The following 4 drugs are selected for resistant model development: Herceptin, Osimertinib, Abemaciclib and Sotorasib.