L.a.n.c.e. Chemosensitivity testing at the highest level· Laboratory for Applied Neoplasia Research and Cytostatics Evaluation

Prinzip des ATP-TCA ATP ist der wesentliche Energielieferant der Zelle. Schnell wachsende Zellen enthalten viel, ruhende Zellen dagegen weniger ATP.

The reason why
The principle
Examples from the lab
What is important?
The advantages

Principle of the ATP-TCA ATP is the essential energy source of the cell. Rapidly growing cells contain a high amount of ATP, quiescent cells in contrast contain less ATP. When lethal cell damage occurs, e.g. through the effect of chemotherapy, the ATP level decreases dramatically within split seconds down to zero. The ATP-TCA uses the highly sensitive ‘firefly‘ reaction to determine the level of cellular ATP as an indirect measure to assess the number of viable cells.
We routinely test six different concentrations per chemotherapy regimen, starting at ultra-high doses down to sub-therapeutic doses over a time span of 5-7 days. Thus, not only cytotoxic effects, but also potential countermeasures of the tumor cell are reliably detected.
By comparing treated and untreated cells, the effect of a specific chemotherapy on an individual tumor can be determined with relatively high accuracy. Usually many different (often up to 20) drugs or drug combinations, respectively, can be examined per each tumor.Thus, in addition to the perhaps already ineffective standard protocols, alternative therapies can be offered.

ATP-TCA - From tumor to individual test results