Researchers at Florida International University (FIU) are making progress in developing a personalised cancer treatment approach that is showing encouraging results for patients with difficult-to-treat and treatment-resistant cancers. The work is being strengthened by a new philanthropic contribution from the Tyler Trent Foundation, which is helping expand the scientific scope of the research.

The funding is supporting research led by Diana Azzam, whose laboratory is pioneering functional precision medicine, an emerging strategy that identifies the most effective therapies by testing libraries of drugs directly on living tumor cells derived from individual patients. This approach allows clinicians to tailor treatments based on how a patient’s cancer actually responds to specific therapies.

The support comes as early findings from the next phase of Azzam’s clinical research show even stronger patient responses than those observed in her initial study. These results further reinforce the potential of drug sensitivity testing to guide treatment decisions, particularly when standard therapies are no longer effective.

Unlike conventional precision oncology, which relies primarily on identifying genetic mutations, functional precision medicine evaluates real-time drug responses by exposing patient-derived tumor cells to hundreds of existing medications. This enables researchers to identify both drug sensitivity and resistance, even in cases where genomic testing reveals few actionable targets.

Earlier clinical research using this method generated treatment recommendations for all participating patients, with many experiencing improved outcomes. Preliminary data from the latest phase suggest that expanding the range of drugs tested may further improve the speed and accuracy of identifying viable treatment options.

The new funding will also allow the research team to broaden its library of FDA-approved generic medicines and natural compounds. Many of these drugs, originally developed for infectious diseases, have demonstrated unexpected anticancer potential and may be repurposed for oncology. Because these compounds already have established safety profiles, they could be integrated more quickly into patient care, potentially in combination with standard therapies to reduce toxicity while maintaining or enhancing effectiveness.