The present invention provides methods for individualizing
chemotherapy for
cancer treatment, and particularly for evaluating a patient's responsiveness to one or more
epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors prior to treatment with such agents. Particularly, the invention provides an
in vitro chemoresponse
assay for predicting a patient's response to an EGFR inhibitor, such as an
EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor or a molecule targeting the
extracellular domain of EGFR. The method generally comprises culturing
malignant cells from a patient's specimen (e.g.,
biopsy specimen), contacting the cultured cells with an EGFR inhibitor that is a candidate treatment for the patient, and evaluating the cultured cells for a response to the
drug. In certain embodiments,
monolayer(s) of
malignant cells are cultured from explants prepared by
mincing tumor tissue, and the cells of the
monolayer are suspended and plated for chemosenstivity testing. The
in vitro response to the
drug as determined by the method of the invention is correlative with the patient's
in vivo response upon receiving the EGFR inhibitor during chemotherapeutic treatment (e.g., in combination with other standardized or individualized chemotherapeutic
regimen).