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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Generating and Imaging Mouse and Human Epithelial Organoids from Normal and Tumor Mammary Tissue Without Passaging
Published on: November 11, 2022
Patient-derived organoid elucidates the identical clonal origin of bilateral breast cancer with diverse molecular
Zhongbin Han1,2, Liangxue Yao1, Yanhua Fang1
1The Key Laboratory of Biomarker High Throughput Screening And Target Translation of Breast and Gastrointestinal Tumor, Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, Dalian, Liaoning, China.
Abstract:
Bilateral breast cancer (BBC), an infrequent breast cancer subtype, has primarily been studied in terms of incidence, prognosis, and through comparative analysis of synchronous (SBBC) and metachronous (MBBC) manifestations. The advent and application of organoid technology hold profound implications for tumor research and clinical management. This study represents the pioneering use of organoid models in BBC research. We established organoid lines from two surgical tumor specimens of a BBC patient, with one line undergoing detailed pathological and genomic analysis. The BBC organoid from the right breast demonstrated a marker expression profile of ER (-), PR (-), HER-2 (0), and Ki67 index 10%, indicating that it may derived from the TNBC tissue. Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) displayed consistent set of Top10 cancer driver genes affected by missense mutations, frameshift mutation, or splice site mutations in three tumor tissues and the organoid samples. The organoids' single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were more closely aligned with the TNBC tissue than other tumor tissues. Evolutionary analysis suggested that different tumor regions might evolve from a common ancestral layer. In this case, the development of BBC organoids indicated that simultaneous lesions with diverse molecular profiles shared a high degree of consistency in key tumor-driving mutations. These findings suggest the feasibility of generating BBC organoids representing various molecular types, accurately replicating significant markers and driver mutations of the originating tumor. Consequently, organoids serve as a valuable in vitro model for exploring treatment strategies and elucidating the underlying mechanisms of BBC.
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