Protocol to utilize fresh uncultured human lung tumor cells for personalized functional diagnostics

Abstract

<p>Drug sensitivity data acquired from solid tumor-derived cultures are often unsuitable for personalized treatment guidance due to the lengthy turnaround time. Here, we present a protocol for determining ex vivo drug sensitivities using fresh uncultured human lung tumor-derived EpCAM⁺ epithelial cells (FUTCs). We describe steps for drug testing in FUTCs to identify tumor cell-selective single or combination therapy in 72 h of sample processing. The FUTC-based approach can also be used to predict <em>in vivo</em> resistance to known targeted therapies. <br></p><p>For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Talwelkar et al. (2021).</p>