The hallmark features of cancer emphasize essential biological
characteristics associated with malignant transformation. Anti-cancer drug discovery is
a strenuous task, requiring a number of pre-clinical and clinical investigations. Preclinical
investigations offer a foundation for anti-cancer drug discovery. A number of
cell based in-vitro assays have been introduced to investigate each major hallmark
feature of cancer. Selection of the most suitable in-vitro assay for pre-clinical
investigations mainly depends on the researcher’s objective(s) to be investigated. A
wide range of cell based in-vitro anti-proliferative assays/techniques have been
developed based on different assay principles and chemistries to evaluate the effects of
testing agent (s) on cancer cell proliferation. In this chapter, we have outlined
commonly utilized cell based anti-proliferative assays in pre-clinical anti-cancer drug
discovery approaches.
Keywords: Cell based anti-proliferative assays, Cellular techniques, Anti-cancer
drug discovery, Hallmarks of cancer.
