Modern methods of preclinical anticancer drug screening using test systems based on cell cultures

Abstract

Preclinical screening of medicinal drugs for novel anti-cancer treatments faces a problem of a rational approach to primary screening of substances with antitumor activity. Low correlation between in vitro and in vivo studies with clinical trials remains a serious issue. Choosing the right tumor model at the in vitro testing stage reduces the financial and time costs of finding and testing promising antitumor agents. In the light of the growing prevalence of cancer, it is urgently important to develop new approaches to screening of anticancer drugs, as well as to increase the pace of creation, development, and testing of new antitumor agents. Although the pharmaceutical industry uses mainly two-dimensional in vitro models, the field of preclinical screening needs more complex models, such as three-dimensional models, microfluidic systems, Boyden chamber, and models created using three-dimensional bioprinting. This review describes the above in vitro tumor models, including their use in research and features, in order to help researchers and clinicians from various fields of pharmacy, preclinical studies, and cell biology understand their prospects for screening potential antitumor drugs.