A platform enabling researchers to monitor living cancer cells continuously — rather than analysing them after the fact — could fundamentally transform drug discovery, cancer research, and precision medicine, experts said on Saturday, 8 August. The technology marks a potential departure from decades-old laboratory methods that require cells to be destroyed before study.

What the Technology Does

Dr. Shyam Aggarwal, Chairperson of the Department of Medical Oncology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, said real-time observation technologies could sharpen researchers' understanding of how cells respond to candidate drugs. According to Dr. Aggarwal, the approach could accelerate detection of subtle biochemical changes and help identify promising therapies more efficiently during preclinical research.

'Understanding precision oncology with comprehensive genome profiling (CGP) and minimal residual disease detection (MRD) will help physicians improve targeted personalised medicine for cancer patients,' Dr. Aggarwal said.

The Platform Behind the Idea

Parmita Mishra, an Indian-origin biotech entrepreneur and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Precigenetics — a San Francisco-based company — runs a platform designed to generate real-time biochemical information from living cells. She argued that the shift in methodology is significant.

'When researchers continuously measure how cells behave instead of relying on biological autopsies, they may uncover insights that were previously impossible to observe,' Mishra said. She added that the implications extend 'far beyond cancer, extending into immunology, neuroscience, rare diseases and regenerative medicine.'

Unlike conventional laboratory techniques that typically require cells to be stained, fixed, or broken apart before analysis, the Precigenetics platform seeks to monitor living biology continuously — allowing scientists to study cellular behaviour over time rather than relying on isolated end-point measurements.

Why Cancer Drug Development Needs This

Cancer drug development remains one of the most challenging areas of pharmaceutical research. Industry studies have consistently shown that the vast majority of oncology drug candidates entering clinical development ultimately fail before reaching patients. Scientists increasingly attribute many of these failures to existing laboratory models' inability to fully capture the complexity and dynamic behaviour of living cells — precisely the gap this approach aims to address.

India's Cancer Burden

The stakes for India are considerable. The country recorded an estimated 1.4 million new cancer cases in 2022, according to data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has projected that India's cancer burden will continue to rise over the coming decade, making advances in drug discovery and precision oncology especially consequential for the country's public health outlook.

If real-time cell monitoring platforms prove viable at scale, they could shorten the preclinical research cycle and improve the odds of identifying treatments that work — a development that would matter most in high-burden settings like India.