[gdpawel]

A challenge is to identify which of the PARP (enzyme) inhibitor combinations will be effective. What better way than using a cell-based functional profiling assay to identify a potential target population of breast cancer patients that a PARP inhibitor manufacturer thinks will benefit from the drug (and combinations with it) and then conduct a randomized clinical trial among this group.

With so many new targeted drugs on the market today and in the pipeline, it is a big challenge is to identify which of the targeted treatments will be effective (enzyme [PARP] inhibitors, proteasome inhibitors, angiogenesis inhibitors, and monoclonal antibodies), for patients going into clinical trials, or patients' treatment as a result of a clinical trial (community oncology).

Despite its allure, the "genetic" pathway is not all that personalized. Treatment based on "genetic profile" is still a guessing game. That part is still lone in the future, in dealing with proper "drug selection." However, a treatment regimen based on a "functional profile" (a real-time test of treatment on the actual cancer tissue) can predict with accuracy an individual's response to treatment.