| abstract |
An improved system for screening a multiple of candidate therapeutic or chemotherapeutic agents for efficacy as to a specific patient, in which a tissue sample from the patient is harvested, cultured and separately exposed to a plurality of treatments and/or therapeutic agents for the purpose of objectively identifying the best treatment or agent for the particular patient. Specific method innovations such as tissue sample preparation techniques render this method practically as well as theoretically useful. The identity of the malignant cells in culture is advantageously confirmed using binding reagents/staining systems specific for epithelial cells, since carcinomas are ubiquitously epithelial in nature. Cells of interest and thus confirmed as epithelial/carcinomal may then be assayed for sensitive to an infinite variety of malignancy treating agents including chemotherapeutic agents, radiation, immunotherapy, and so on. |