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Updated: Oct 7, 2025
Author Spotlight: Advancing Personalized Medicine in Ovarian Cancer
Published on: February 23, 2024
Organoids and epithelial ovarian cancer - a future tool for personalized treatment decisions? (Review)
Yagmur Sisman1,2, Tine Schnack3, Estrid Høgdall2
1Department of Gynecology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Abstract:
Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the 5th leading cause of cancer-associated death in females worldwide. Although 80% of cases respond well to initial treatment, >70% develop recurrent disease and become chemoresistant within the first two years. Therefore, there is a great need for predictive biomarkers to guide treatment. In the era of precision medicine, organoids are studied as a functional method to predict treatment response to oncological treatment. The overall purpose of the present systematic review was to uncover the current status of patient-derived organoids and their ability to perform drug screenings for EOC. A systematic search for studies investigating ovarian cancer and organoids was performed using PubMed and the Cochrane Library. A total of 10 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The growth rates of organoids were described in six studies and varied between 29 and 90%. Only four studies included data on clinical outcomes and indicated a positive correlation between clinical response and drug screening results. Inter- and intratumoral heterogeneity was examined in seven studies. They all suggested that the organoids recapture the tumor heterogeneity. Only one study performed drug screenings on organoids obtained from different tumor sites and metastasis from the same patient with EOC and revealed a different response to at least one drug for all patients. In conclusion, organoids may provide a platform for predicting the clinical response to chemotherapy and gene-targeting therapy. However, the results are only exploratory and the number of published drug screening studies is minimal. Further research is required to prove that organoids are able to support the choice of oncological treatment in patients with EOC.
Insights
Patient-derived organoids show promise for predicting epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) treatment response. While they can model tumor heterogeneity, more research is needed to confirm their clinical utility in guiding chemotherapy and gene-targeting therapies.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Biotechnology
- Genomics
Background:
- Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is a leading cause of cancer death in women.
- Most EOC cases initially respond to treatment but often recur with chemoresistance.
- Predictive biomarkers are crucial for personalized treatment strategies in EOC.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review the current applications of patient-derived organoids for drug screening in EOC.
- To assess the potential of organoids in predicting treatment response for EOC patients.
Main Methods:
- A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed and the Cochrane Library.
- Studies investigating ovarian cancer and organoids were included based on specific criteria.
- Data on organoid growth rates, clinical outcomes, and heterogeneity were extracted.
Main Results:
- Ten studies met the inclusion criteria, with organoid growth rates ranging from 29% to 90%.
- Four studies reported a positive correlation between organoid drug screening results and clinical response.
- Seven studies confirmed that organoids effectively recapitulate inter- and intratumoral heterogeneity.
Conclusions:
- Patient-derived organoids show potential as a platform for predicting chemotherapy and gene-targeting therapy response in EOC.
- Current evidence is exploratory, with a limited number of published drug screening studies.
- Further research is essential to validate organoids for guiding oncological treatment decisions in EOC.
