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Microfluidic Co-Culture Models for Dissecting the Immune Response in in vitro Tumor Microenvironments
Published on: April 30, 2021
Microphysiological Systems for Cancer Immunotherapy Research and Development
1Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
Abstract:
Cancer immunotherapy focuses on the use of patients' adaptive immune systems to combat cancer. In the past decade, FDA has approved many immunotherapy products for cancer patients who suffer from primary tumors, tumor relapse, and metastases. However, these immunotherapies still show resistance in many patients and often lead to inconsistent responses in patients due to variations in tumor genetic mutations and tumor immune microenvironment. Microfluidics-based organ-on-a-chip technologies or microphysiological systems have opened new ways that can provide relatively fast screening for personalized immunotherapy and help researchers and clinicians understand tumor-immune interactions in a patient-specific manner. They also have the potential to overcome the limitations of traditional drug screening and testing, given the models provide a more realistic 3D microenvironment with better controllability, reproducibility, and physiological relevance. This review focuses on the cutting-edge microphysiological organ-on-a-chip devices developed in recent years for studying cancer immunity and testing cancer immunotherapeutic agents, as well as some of the largest challenges of translating this technology to clinical applications in immunotherapy and personalized medicine.
Insights
Microfluidic organ-on-a-chip systems offer a promising avenue for personalized cancer immunotherapy by enabling faster screening and better understanding of tumor-immune interactions. These advanced models aim to overcome current treatment resistance and improve patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cancer Research
- Immunology
Background:
- Cancer immunotherapy leverages the patient's immune system to fight cancer, with numerous FDA-approved treatments available.
- Despite advancements, many patients exhibit resistance to current immunotherapies due to tumor genetic heterogeneity and the complex tumor immune microenvironment.
- Existing drug screening methods face limitations in accurately reflecting in vivo conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advancements in microphysiological organ-on-a-chip (OOC) systems for cancer immunity research.
- To highlight the application of OOC technology in testing cancer immunotherapeutic agents.
- To discuss the challenges and potential of translating OOC technology to clinical applications in personalized immunotherapy.
Main Methods:
- Review of cutting-edge microphysiological OOC devices developed for cancer immunity studies.
- Analysis of OOC systems for screening personalized immunotherapies.
- Examination of OOC models for understanding tumor-immune interactions.
Main Results:
- OOC technologies provide a more realistic 3D microenvironment for studying cancer immunity.
- These systems offer improved controllability, reproducibility, and physiological relevance compared to traditional methods.
- OOC platforms facilitate patient-specific screening for immunotherapy and investigation of tumor-immune dynamics.
Conclusions:
- Microfluidic OOC systems represent a significant advancement in cancer research and drug development.
- These technologies hold great potential for overcoming immunotherapy resistance and enabling personalized medicine approaches.
- Further development is needed to address challenges in clinical translation for widespread immunotherapy applications.
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