[Clinical experiences with in vitro testing of chemotherapeutic agents]

The response of tumour cells from 25 tumours (mainly squamous cell carcinomas) to Cisplatinum, Bleomycin and Methotrexate in the stem-cell cloning assay described by Hamburger and Salmon was compared to the response to combination therapy with Bleomycin, Methotrexate and Cisplatinum. In 90%, the result of the stem-cell assay yielded a correct prediction of the chemosensitivity or resistance of the tumour within 9 weeks. This test predicts with high probability the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic agents long before the clinical result becomes manifest. Thus, the application of pre-operative chemotherapy becomes easier. The possibility of predicting the ineffectiveness of cytostatic agents spares the patient the often considerable side effects to a treatment whose ineffectiveness until now only became apparent after a prolonged period.