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Updated: May 10, 2026
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Cancer Drug Sensitization In Vitro and In Vivo
Published on: February 6, 2015
The AutoDiSC: development and validation of a novel chemotherapy sensitivity and resistance assay
Timo Schinköthe1, Dhaksanan Thiruchittampalam, Annette Schmidt
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, LMU, University of Munich, Munich, Germany. t.schinkothe@instim.de
Background:
Measurement of cell survival as performed by the differential staining cytotoxicity (DiSC) assay allows for a comprehensive prediction of individual chemotherapy response. This assay has not reached routine clinical application because of its several limitations. In order to improve the DiSC assay, we developed a new type of chemotherapy sensitivity and resistance assay (CSRA) by combining a novel evaluation methodology with automated measurement of cell survival based on flow cytometry, termed AutoDiSC.
Materials And Methods:
Tumour cell lines were treated with cytostatic drugs and cultured in 96-well plates for four days at 37 °C. Subsequently, propidium iodide was added and 96-well plates were analyzed using flow cytometry in order to determine the number of living cells in each well. Each component was evaluated for reproducibility and impact on assay read-out.
Results:
The evaluation process allowed for specification of all relevant parameters that determine assay performance.
Conclusion:
AutoDiSC is a new fully-automated CSRA which meets all criteria required for routine clinical use.
