Sensor-based cell and tissue screening for personalized cancer chemotherapy.

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Personalized chemotherapy requires reliable methods for assessing drug efficacy.
• Current methods include molecular biomarkers or direct ex vivo cellular chemosensitivity assays.
• Functional ex vivo assays offer direct measurement of cellular response to chemotherapy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel high-content, label-free platform for real-time monitoring of human mamma carcinoma explants.
• To assess the ex vivo chemosensitivity of breast cancer tissue under modeled chemotherapy conditions.
• To evaluate the platform's potential for supporting targeted systemic cancer therapy.

Main Methods:

• Human breast cancer tissue explants were sliced and placed in microreaction chambers with integrated pH and dissolved oxygen sensors.
• A robotic system maintained tissue culture, while an integrated microscope enabled process surveillance.
• Real-time metabolic activity (oxygen consumption, extracellular acidification) was monitored before, during, and after drug exposure.

Main Results:

• The platform successfully detected ex vivo metabolic activity in breast cancer tissue explants.
• Metabolic rates, specifically oxygen consumption, showed a tendency to decrease over time.
• The platform could discriminate the impact of chemotherapeutic drugs like doxorubicin and chloroacetaldehyde.

Conclusions:

• The developed sensor-based platform provides multiparametric, real-time analysis of cancer cell chemosensitivity.
• This approach offers superior information content compared to conventional endpoint assays.
• Further evaluation in clinical studies is recommended to support targeted cancer therapy decisions.