[Relevance of animal models in the development of compounds targeting multidrug resistant cancer]

Anticancer compounds are typically identified in in vitro screens. Unfortunately, the in vitro drug sensitivity of cell lines does not reflect treatment efficiency in animal models, and neither show acceptable correlation to clinical results. While cell lines and laboratory animals can be readily "cured", the treatment of malignancies remains hampered by the multidrug resistance (MDR) of tumors. Genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) giving rise to spontaneous tumors offer a new possibility to characterize the evolution of drug resistance mechanisms and to target multidrug resistant cancer.