Detection and treatment of daughter number variations in cancer cells

A method of treating cancer in a patient having a malignant tumor, the method comprising administering a compound to the patient, provided that the compound is determined to inhibit multinucleate cell production resulting from cell fusion during a process of Daughter Number Variation (DNV) in mitosis in an in vitro method, wherein the method comprises:

• culturing cancer cells in the presence or absence of the compound for a predetermined period of time;
• identifying cell subgroups P1 through P8 in DNV;
• and
• counting numbers of P1, and/or P1 and P2 cell subgroups and P3 through P8 cell subgroups produced during the predetermined period of time in the presence or absence of the compound,
• wherein a larger proportion of the P1 and/or P2 cell subgroups of the total number of P1 through P8 cell subgroups in the cancer cells cultured in the presence of the compound as compared to the proportion of the P1, and/or P1 and P2 cell subgroups of the total number of P1 through P8 cell subgroups in the cancer cells cultured in the absence of the compound determines the compound's ability to inhibit the multinucleate cell production resulting from post-mitotic cell fusion during DNV,
• wherein P1 cell subgroups are single mononucleate cells, P2 cell subgroups are clusters of one binucleate cell and two mononucleate cells, P3 cell subgroups are clusters of one multinucleate cell with two nuclei and one mononucleate cell, P4 cell subgroups are one multinucleate cell with three nuclei, P5 cell subgroups are clusters of either two multinucleate cells with two nuclei or one multinucleate cell with two nuclei and one binucleate cell, P6 cell subgroups are clusters of one multinucleate cell with three nuclei and one mononucleate cell, P7 cell subgroups are one multinucleate cell with four nuclei, and P8 cell subgroups are one multinucleate cell with five nuclei;
• and
• wherein P1 and P2 cell subgroups have not undergone post-mitotic cell fusion and P3 through P8 cell subgroups have undergone post-mitotic cell fusion.