Do all labs test for cell death?
No.
Some laboratories still use the “cell growing” approach and some use
a variation that tests only to see if cells stop producing DNA - the
chemical substance needed to create new cells.
However, most anti-cancer drugs work by killing the cancer cell,
directly or indirectly, through a process called apoptosis, also known as
“programmed cell death.” This
principle was not well-understood until the 1990’s.
This was well after some of the older cell growing Cell Profiling
methods had already been developed.
The difference between measuring cell death and detecting the lack of
cell proliferation seems subtle but it is very important – especially if the
goal of testing is to identify anti-cancer drugs that have the best chance
of helping you. The vast
majority of Functional Cancer Cell Profiling clinical studies published in
medical journals over the past decade have used the cell death approach and
not the cell growing (cell proliferation) approach.