Facility Details

The Developmental Therapeutics Core (DTC) provides a range of preclinical testing services that include: in vitro tumor cell assays; in vivo subcutaneous and orthotopic models for studying tumor growth, as well as for studying tumor response to therapy; exploratory pharmacokinetics; and exploratory toxicology. The DTC also assists investigators with drug formulations and initial assessments of drug stability.  A patient-derived xenograft (PDX) repository provides investigators with more than 60 tumor models representing 12 different types of cancer for in vivo testing of therapies against human tumors. The DTC also maintains a repository with more than 200 human tumor cell lines, many of which can also be used for xenograft establishment and therapeutic testing. DTC staff are proficient in all routes of treatment administration and in small animal surgery, provide consulting and training, and accelerate implementation of studies through simple modification of blanket IACUC protocols. Experienced core staff advise faculty on study design, and assist with the interpretation and presentation of results for manuscripts and grant applications.