Biomaterials for Mimicking and Modelling Tumor Microenvironment

This chapter summarizes the current biomaterials and associated technologies used to mimic and characterize the tumor microenvironment (TME) for developing preclinical therapeutics. Research in conventional 2D cancer models systematically fails to provide physiological significance due to their discrepancy with diseased tissue's native complexity and dynamic nature. The recent developments in biomaterials and microfabrication have enabled the popularization of 3D models, displacing the traditional use of Petri dishes and microscope slides to bioprinters or microfluidic devices. These technologies allow us to gather large amounts of time-dependent information on tissue-tissue, tissue-cell, and cell-cell interactions, fluid flows, and biomechanical cues at the cellular level that were inaccessible by traditional methods. In addition, the wave of new tools producing unprecedented amounts of data is also triggering a new revolution in the development and use of new tools for analysis, interpretation, and prediction, fueled by the concurrent development of artificial intelligence. Together, all these advances are crystalizing a new era for biomedical engineering characterized by high-throughput experiments and high-quality data.Furthermore, this new detailed understanding of disease and its multifaceted characteristics is enabling the long searched transition to personalized medicine.Here we outline the various biomaterials used to mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) and redesign the tumor microenvironment, providing a comprehensive overview of cancer research's state of the art and future.