ReviewOncotarget2017
Improving anticancer drug development begins with cell culture: misinformation perpetrated by the misuse of cytotoxicity assays.
Review in Oncotarget, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed.
- Nutrient deprivation enhances the cytotoxic effects of a sulfonamide-chalcone hybrid in PC-3 prostate cancer cells.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2026Article
- The Antitumor Potential of Celastrol: Research Progress on Antitumor Mechanisms and Strategies for Toxicity Reduction with Efficacy Enhancement.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- From Forestry By-Product to Functional Food Ingredient Innovation: Antiproliferative, Antimetastatic and Antiplasmodial Activities of Norway Spruce Sawdust Extract.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- What Is Apoptosis and Why Is It Inhibited by the Most Important Tumor Suppressor (p53)?International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Cytocompatible FRET Assembly of CdTe@GSH Quantum Dots and Au@BSA Nanoclusters: A Novel Ratiometric Strategy for Dopamine Detection.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Targeting Insulin Resistance in Hepatocytes: A Novel Insulin-Mimetic Agent Delivered via an Advanced Nanocarrier System.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2025Article
- Article
- Tempol Induces Oxidative Stress, ER Stress and Apoptosis via MAPK/Akt/mTOR Pathway Suppression in HT29 (Colon) and CRL-1739 (Gastric) Cancer Cell Lines.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Article
- Anastasis and Other Apoptosis-Related Prosurvival Pathways Call for a Paradigm Shift in Oncology: Significance of Deintensification in Treating Solid Tumors.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Chemical engineering of zein with polyethylene glycol and Angiopep-2 to manufacture a brain-targeted docetaxel nanomedicine for glioblastoma treatment.Drug delivery and translational research · 2024Article
- Amitotic Cell Division, Malignancy, and Resistance to Anticancer Agents: A Tribute to Drs. Walen and Rajaraman.Cancers · 2024Article
- Bile acid-sensitive human norovirus strains are susceptible to sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 2 inhibition.Journal of virology · 2024Article
- Changing the Landscape of Solid Tumor Therapy from Apoptosis-Promoting to Apoptosis-Inhibiting Strategies.Current issues in molecular biology · 2024Review
- Tumor growth-arrest effect of tetrahydroquinazoline-derivative human topoisomerase II-alpha inhibitor in HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Single-Cell MTT: A Simple and Sensitive Assay for Determining the Viability and Metabolic Activity of Polyploid Giant Cancer Cells (PGCCs).Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Excessive concentrations of kinase inhibitors in translational studies impede effective drug repurposing.Cell reports. Medicine · 2023Article
- Ir(III) Compounds Containing a Terdentate Ligand Are Potent Inhibitors of Proliferation and Effective Antimetastatic Agents in Aggressive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells.Journal of medicinal chemistry · 2023Article
- Intratumor Heterogeneity and Treatment Resistance of Solid Tumors with a Focus on Polyploid/Senescent Giant Cancer Cells (PGCCs).International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Activation of the cGAS-STING pathway by a mitochondrial DNA-targeted emissive rhodium(iii) metallointercalator.Chemical science · 2023Article
- PINK1 regulates apoptosis of osteosarcoma as the target gene of cisplatin.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
The high failure rate of anticancer drug discovery and development has consumed billions of dollars annually. While many explanations have been provided, I believe that misinformation arising from inappropriate cell-based screens has been completely over-looked. Most cell culture experiments are irrelevant to how drugs are subsequently administered to patients. Usually, drug development focuses on growth inhibition rather than cell killing. Drugs are selected based on continuous incubation of cells, then frequently administered to the patient as a bolus. Target identification and validation is often performed by gene suppression that inevitably mimics continuous target inhibition. Drug concentrations in vitro frequently far exceed in vivo concentrations. Studies of drug synergy are performed at sub-optimal concentrations. And the focus on a limited number of cell lines can misrepresent the potential efficacy in a patient population. The intent of this review is to encourage more appropriate experimental design and data interpretation, and to improve drug development in the area of cell-based assays. Application of these principles should greatly enhance the successful translation of novel drugs to the patient.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.