Introduction
Precision Therapeutics Inc (Precision) is a leading force in cell culture research and continues to investigate methods that facilitate the delivery of individualized cancer therapy. Precision's research team supports this mission with a robust research program.

Over the past 10 years, Precision has developed a patented technique for growing human tumor-derived cells in culture and evaluating their response to therapeutic agents. Furthermore, Precision's scientists have developed advanced technology for measuring these individual tumor responses to cancer treatment and have also incorporated advances in genomic and cell-based technology in its research to provide additional information to treating physicians.

Precision is committed to high-integrity research into the development of individualized cancer treatment support tools and services. Precision has commissioned and funded multiple clinical research programs in partnership with leading medical research institutions and renowned thought-leaders. These investigations will further refine and enhance the predictive insight of ChemoFx® for a variety of tumor types.

The need for chemoresponse tests
"One of the main problems associated with chemotherapy has been that patient tumors with the same histology do not necessarily respond identically to the same agent or dose-schedule of multiple agents. Advances in our understanding of the genetic and protein fingerprints of primary tumors and their metastases has opened a door to the possibility of customizing therapy to individuals. There is accumulating evidence suggesting that laboratory screening of samples from a patient's tumor may help select the appropriate treatment(s) to administer, thereby avoiding ineffective drugs, and sparing patients the side effects normally associated with these agents."

Rosalyn D Blumenthal, Methods in Molecular Medicine, Chemosensitivity, In Vitro Assays.

ChemoFx
"The results of the ChemoFx assay, when tested on cultured, tumor-derived cells from ovarian cancer patients, appear to be highly correlative to the clinical patterns of response seen in patients following chemotherapy with platinums and/or taxanes."

In vitro responses of ovarian cancers to platinum and taxanes. Kornblith PL et al. Anticancer Research 2003; 23: 543-548