Synergistic interaction of anticancer agents: a cellular perspective

It has been attempted to demonstrate that the terms used by investigators for synergism, by the clinician and experimentalist at the whole animal level and by the cell biologist, generally are not translatable from one framework to the other with identical meaning or implication. Some of the conceptual difficulties have been described here and as more research in combination chemotherapy at the cellular level is forthcoming, many more examples will arise. Since the cancer therapist necessarily treats at the whole animal level but conceptualizes at the biochemical and cellular levels, he must be aware of possible inconsistencies that may arise at the transition of one level to another.