METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE BEST TREATMENT FOR CANCER PATIENTS, COMPRISING THE CULTURE AND EXPANSION OF CELLS PRESENT IN ASCITES FLUID OF PERITONEAL, PLEURAL, PERITONEAL LAVAGE OR SYSTEMIC LAVAGE ORIGIN

摘要

The invention relates to a diagnosis method which is used outside the human or animal body and which can be used to identify and/or predict the best cancer treatment for a patient, said method comprising: i) depositing a sample of ascites fluid from a patient in a centrifuge and centrifuging the sample in order to obtain a first phase containing cells and a second phase corresponding to cell-free fluid; ii) analysing the second phase in order to check for the presence of at least 10 platelets per ml; iii) expanding the cells present in the first phase in a culture medium until 80% confluence is obtained; iv) selecting the cells expanded in step (iii), performing a cell dissociation step with a proteolytic enzyme or using a calcium chelating agent and subsequently, from the dissociated cells, determining molecular and/or cellular markers, in order to confirm the presence of a mixed cell population; and v) determining the best treatment for patients by: a) adding a dose of a chemotherapy drug to the cells from step (iv); b) using a viability assay to measure the degree of toxicity of each drug in the cells; c) repeating steps (a) and (b) with different chemotherapy drugs; and d) analysing the results obtained, whereby a response below 30% toxicity reflects resistance to treatment, a response above 30% toxicity corresponds to intermediate sensitivity to treatment, and a response above 50% toxicity reflects a high probability of response to treatment.