Ex vivo qualitative and quantitative analysis of fluorescently-labeled Hsp90 drug in human tumors.

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) stabilizes numerous oncogenic proteins, making it a key therapeutic target in cancer. This protocol details an ex vivo method using freshly resected human renal cell carcinoma tissues to evaluate fluorescently labeled Hsp90 inhibitor ganetespib accumulation in tumor versus normal tissue. By preserving the native tumor architecture, this method offers a physiologically relevant alternative to xenograft models. This protocol combines flow cytometry and confocal microscopy to quantitatively and visually assess ganetespib uptake, providing insight into drug distribution and therapeutic response in human cancers. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Dunn et al. and Woodford et al.