Methods to detect P-glycoprotein and implications for other drug resistance-associated proteins.

ABSTRACT

The problem of tumor cell drug resistance remains a barrier to the successful treatment of many neoplastic diseases. Problems of tumor cell heterogeneity and expression of multiple mechanisms of drug resistance complicate treatment strategies. Indeed, even that form of resistance to natural product anticancer agents, multidrug resistance (MDR), can have multiple mechanisms. Compounding these problems is the use of different methodologies and different reagents to assess expression of the most widely studied form of MDR, that due to increased expression of the MDR1 gene and its product, P-glycoprotein (Pgp). In this paper, we discuss problems associated with assay variability and accurate measurement of markers of drug resistance, and summarize consensus findings of the St Jude Workshop on methods to detect Pgp in tumors.