DETERMINING CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC EFFECTIVENESS

摘要

A method of determining the potential effectiveness of a chemotherapeutic compound, or combination of compounds, for treating cancerous cells in a human or animal patient comprises the steps of: i) exposing a sample of the cancerous cells taken from the patient to a chemotherapeutic compound, or combination of compounds the effectiveness of which is to be determined; and ii) assaying for a conformational change in the Bak protein of the cells. The change in the conformation of Bak represents a very early indicator of cellular commitment to apoptosis, and the ability of a compound, or combination of compounds, to cause sucks a change in cancerous cells provides an indication that the compound, or combination, will be effective in chernotherapeutic treatment of the cells.