Frequently Asked Questions

What kinds of cancers can you treat?
Rational Therapeutics™' technologies can be applied to virtually any type of cancer. For more information, see our "Sample Preparation" page.

How is the EVA-PCD™ assay different from traditional chemosensitivity or c
The EVA-PCD™ assay considers the ability of a chemotherapeutic to induce tumor cell death, a logical step forward from older assays that only measure inhibition of tumor cell growth. Apoptotic end points are more reflective of chemotherapy effects in vivo.

What is the advantage of a cell-death assay over proliferation-based assays?
Proliferation-based assays are successful in determining chemotherapeutic drugs that are resistant to an individual’s tumor – in other words, drugs that won’t work. These assays do not improve survival outcomes. By measuring the ability to induce apoptosis, a cell-death assay indicates the drugs that will work, not just the drugs that won’t work, for each patient.

If it works in the test tube, will it work in the patient?
While no laboratory test can duplicate the human body, the EVA-PCD™ assay provides a crucial piece of the clinical response puzzle: the inherent sensitivity or resistance of each patient’s cancer cells to potential chemotherapies before treatment begins. This can eliminate exposure to toxic, ineffective drugs.

Do you manipulate the cancer cells?
No. Because we measure the ability of a drug to induce cell death and not inhibit proliferation, we do not have to manipulate the cancer cells to grow. We also analyze the tumor cells in a microspheroid “snapshot” taken from the human body.

Why is a microspheroid important?
A microspheroid mimics cancer’s native environment within the body by allowing cancer cells to interact. Using a microspheroid in the EVA-PCD™ assay is a significant advancement over the single-cell suspension methods of older assays.

What is the clinical evidence?
A review of 500 published clinical correlations shows that the EVA-PCD™ assay has a sensitivity of 94 percent to detect a response to a potential chemotherapy or combination treatment.

Which patients are eligible?
The EVA-PCD™ assay can be applied to virtually any type of cancer.

What type of sample is used and how is it collected?
We use fresh tissue samples for the EVA-PCD™ assay.

What information can I expect to receive?
While the ultimate decision lies with you and your patient, we provide a report that indicates the tumor’s chemoresistance and chemosensitivity profile. So you can make every therapy rational.