# In vitro and in vivo

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/in-vitro-in-vivo/  
OnCo record `in-vitro-in-vivo` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

In vitro means 'in glass': experiments on cells or molecules in a dish. In vivo means 'in the living': experiments in animals or people. A drug that kills cancer cells in vitro has cleared only the first and easiest hurdle.

## Summary

In vitro work (cell lines, purified proteins, organoids) is fast, cheap and controlled and is where targets are discovered and drugs first tested, but it lacks the immune system, blood supply, metabolism and toxicity of a whole organism. In vivo work in mice, often carrying transplanted human tumours, adds those features imperfectly; ex vivo means tissue taken from a patient and tested outside the body, and in silico means computer modelling. The gap between these models and patients is one of the main reasons most drugs that look promising in the lab fail in trials.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: in vitro; in vivo; in-vitro; in-vivo; ex vivo; ex-vivo; in silico; in the dish; in a dish; test tube; in the laboratory; laboratory studies; lab studies; in animals; animal studies; animal models; animal study

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro

## Connected records

- terms: [Cell line](https://onco.cc/terms/cell-line/), [Clinical trial](https://onco.cc/terms/clinical-trial/), [Model organism](https://onco.cc/terms/model-organism/), [Organoid](https://onco.cc/terms/organoid/), [Preclinical](https://onco.cc/terms/preclinical/)
- technologies: [Functional (ex vivo) drug testing](https://onco.cc/technologies/functional-drug-testing/), [Patient-derived organoids](https://onco.cc/technologies/organoids/), [Patient-derived xenografts](https://onco.cc/technologies/pdx-models/)
- drugs: [Ivermectin](https://onco.cc/drugs/ivermectin/)
- key papers: [Ivermectin converts cold tumors hot and synergizes with immune checkpoint blockade for treatment of breast cancer (with 2026 expression of concern)](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-draganov-ivermectin-cold-tumours-npj-breast-cancer-2021/), [Ivermectin, a potential anticancer drug derived from an antiparasitic drug](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-tang-ivermectin-potential-anticancer-pharmacol-res-2021/), [The multitargeted drug ivermectin: from an antiparasitic agent to a repositioned cancer drug](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-juarez-ivermectin-repositioned-cancer-drug-2018/)

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