New Model Measures Drugs Ability To Penetrate Colon Tumor Ce

Scientists have developed a model of a tumor's vascular system to determine how cancer drugs distribute in tumors. The ability of drugs to penetrate tumors is one factor that determines their actual anticancer activity. Kevin O. Hicks, Ph.D., of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and colleagues measured the ability of tirapazamine, a drug activated in oxygen deficient cells, to penetrate cell layers of a type of colon cancer. With this information, they were able to create a three-dimensional model of drug distribution in a tumor. They then compared the predictions of cell death from this model with actual results in mouse tumors. Their model accurately predicted the ability of tirapazamine and closely related drugs to penetrate the colon tumor and kill tumor cells.

In an accompanying editorial, Edward A. Sausville, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Maryland in Baltimore, discusses the implications of Hicks et al.'s approach on the development of small-molecule anti-cancer compounds. He writes, "Unless the diffusion and drug transport properties of an agent are optimized, what looks good in tissue culture experiments will likely look less promising when applied to the human milieu."

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Note: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute is published by Oxford University Press and is not affiliated with the National Cancer Institute. Attribution to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute is requested in all news coverage. Visit the Journal online at http://jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjournals.org/.

Other highlights in the August 16 JNCI

Contacts:

Article:

Kevin Hicks

k.hicks@auckland.ac.nz

Editorial:

Karen Warmkessel

kwarmkessel@umm.edu

Contact: Ariel Whitworth

Journal of the National Cancer Institute
(责任编辑：泉水)

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New Model Measures Drugs Ability To Penetrate Colon Tumor Ce