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Organotypic Models for Functional Drug Testing of Human Cancers
Yu Ling Huang1, Lindsay K Dickerson2, Heidi Kenerson2
1Division of Human Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
Abstract:
In the era of personalized oncology, there have been accelerated efforts to develop clinically relevant platforms to test drug sensitivities of individual cancers. An ideal assay will serve as a diagnostic companion to inform the oncologist of the various treatments that are sensitive and insensitive, thus improving outcome while minimizing unnecessary toxicities and costs. To date, no such platform exists for clinical use, but promising approaches are on the horizon that take advantage of improved techniques in creating human cancer models that encompass the entire tumor microenvironment, alongside technologies for assessing and analyzing tumor response. This review summarizes a number of current strategies that make use of intact human cancer tissues as organotypic cultures in drug sensitivity testing.
Insights
Developing clinically relevant platforms for personalized oncology is crucial. Promising organotypic culture methods are emerging to test individual cancer drug sensitivities, aiming to improve patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Translational Medicine
- Cancer Research
Background:
- Personalized oncology requires accurate drug sensitivity testing for individual cancers.
- Current diagnostic tools lack comprehensive platforms to guide treatment decisions.
- Minimizing treatment toxicity and cost necessitates reliable predictive assays.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current strategies for drug sensitivity testing using intact human cancer tissues.
- To highlight the potential of organotypic cultures as a clinically relevant platform.
- To discuss advancements in human cancer modeling and response assessment.
Main Methods:
- Summarizing various approaches utilizing organotypic cultures of intact human tumor tissues.
- Reviewing technologies for assessing and analyzing tumor response in vitro.
- Focusing on methods that preserve the tumor microenvironment.
Main Results:
- Organotypic cultures of human cancer tissues show promise for drug sensitivity testing.
- Advancements in cancer modeling and response assessment technologies are enabling new approaches.
- No single platform currently exists for widespread clinical use.
Conclusions:
- Organotypic cultures represent a promising frontier for personalized cancer therapy.
- Further development is needed to translate these models into routine clinical practice.
- These models have the potential to guide oncologists in selecting effective treatments.
