Chemo-sensitivity Testing - Chemotherapy Sensitivity and Resistance Assays (CSRAs) are a relatively new wave of tests done for many types of cancer. A chem-sensitivity assay is a laboratory test done on a single cell in a test tube (in vitro) or a clump of tumour cells (in vivo), usually taken from a biopsy sample. This test looks at how many cancer cells are killed by a drug, or a combination of drugs, and how many cancer cells resist the treatment. These results are called drug sensitivity and drug resistance. Once our physicians know which drugs your cancer will respond to, you can be treated most effectively. This approach ensures that you don't lose any time trying drugs that don't work for you. It also reduces your potential side effects by not subjecting you to powerful toxic drugs that may or may not kill your cancer.
Taken from Langley Integrated Health Website
http://www.integratedhealthclinic.com/_cancercare/cancerTreatment.htm
