Chemotherapy drug resistance--a panel discussion

Considerable insight into the problem of drug resistance has emerged in the past few years. An understanding of why tumors develop drug resistance is now at hand both from theoretical points of view and from experimental and clinical data. Experimental models of drug resistance, particularly related to the surface P-glycoprotein, have been remarkably successful in teaching us why tumor cells in culture develop resistance to common therapeutic agents. In this panel discussion, the clinical relevance of these and other proposed mechanisms will be examined, with the hope of providing an up-to-date overview on this exciting field.