For cancer patients, the course of treatment is a critical factor that determines their rate of survival. The use of imatinib-mesylate (IMA) for instance, has successfully induced remission in most patients suffering from chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The IMA drug and its derivatives effectively inhibit abnormal tyrosine kinase activity of key oncoproteins. However, many of these patients develop resistance to IMA-based drugs due to mutations that arise in the oncoproteins. While new drug development is currently underway, methods that can predict drug response are invaluable in order to determine the degree of drug-resistance.
Giuseppe Bellisola and colleagues from the University of Verona, Italy, combined the ability of Fourier Transform Infrared microspectroscopy (microFTIR) and unsupervised Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) to assess drug-resistance in cancer cells.
Overview of microFTIR and HCA
To find out more about this study, check out the link below:
Rapid recognition of drug-resistance/sensitivity in leukemic cells by Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy and unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis
Giuseppe Bellisola , Gianfelice Cinque , Marzia Vezzalini , Elisabetta Moratti , Giovannino Silvestri , Sara Redaelli , Carlo Gambacorti Passerini , Katia Wehbe and Claudio Sorio
Analyst, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2AN36393C
