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Updated: Dec 24, 2025
Measuring Real-time Drug Response in Organotypic Tumor Tissue Slices
Published on: May 2, 2020
A microfluidic platform for functional testing of cancer drugs on intact tumor slices
A D Rodriguez1, L F Horowitz, K Castro
1Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
Abstract:
Present approaches to assess cancer treatments are often inaccurate, costly, and/or cumbersome. Functional testing platforms that use live tumor cells are a promising tool both for drug development and for identifying the optimal therapy for a given patient, i.e. precision oncology. However, current methods that utilize patient-derived cells from dissociated tissue typically lack the microenvironment of the tumor tissue and/or cannot inform on a timescale rapid enough to guide decisions for patient-specific therapy. We have developed a microfluidic platform that allows for multiplexed drug testing of intact tumor slices cultured on a porous membrane. The device is digitally-manufactured in a biocompatible thermoplastic by laser-cutting and solvent bonding. Here we describe the fabrication process in detail, we characterize the fluidic performance of the device, and demonstrate on-device drug-response testing with tumor slices from xenografts and from a patient colorectal tumor.
Insights
This study introduces a novel microfluidic platform for precise cancer drug testing using intact tumor slices. This innovation aims to improve cancer treatment accuracy and speed up therapeutic decisions for patients.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Oncology
- Microfluidics
Background:
- Current cancer treatment assessment methods are often inaccurate, costly, and time-consuming.
- Existing functional testing platforms using live tumor cells lack the native tumor microenvironment and are too slow for timely clinical decisions.
- Precision oncology requires rapid and accurate methods for selecting optimal patient-specific therapies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel microfluidic platform for multiplexed drug testing of intact tumor slices.
- To enable functional drug response testing that preserves the tumor microenvironment.
- To assess the potential of this platform for guiding patient-specific cancer therapy decisions.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a microfluidic device using digital manufacturing techniques (laser-cutting and solvent bonding) in biocompatible thermoplastic.
- Culture of intact tumor slices on a porous membrane within the microfluidic platform.
- Characterization of the device's fluidic performance and demonstration of on-device drug-response testing.
Main Results:
- Successful fabrication and characterization of the microfluidic platform's fluidic properties.
- Demonstrated feasibility of on-device drug-response testing using intact tumor slices.
- Validation of the platform with tumor slices from both xenografts and a patient-derived colorectal tumor.
Conclusions:
- The developed microfluidic platform offers a promising tool for accurate and rapid functional drug testing of intact tumor slices.
- This technology has the potential to overcome limitations of current methods, improving drug development and enabling faster precision oncology decisions.
- The platform preserves tumor microenvironment and allows for multiplexed testing, paving the way for more effective cancer treatment strategies.
