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Targeted Cancer Therapy-on-A-Chip
Heba Abed1, Remya Radha1, Shabana Anjum1
1Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.
Abstract:
Targeted cancer therapy (TCT) is gaining increased interest because it reduces the risks of adverse side effects by specifically treating tumor cells. TCT testing has traditionally been performed using two-dimensional (2D) cell culture and animal studies. Organ-on-a-chip (OoC) platforms have been developed to recapitulate cancer in vitro, as cancer-on-a-chip (CoC), and used for chemotherapeutics development and testing. This review explores the use of CoCs to both develop and test TCTs, with a focus on three main aspects, the use of CoCs to identify target biomarkers for TCT development, the use of CoCs to test free, un-encapsulated TCTs, and the use of CoCs to test encapsulated TCTs. Despite current challenges such as system scaling, and testing externally triggered TCTs, TCToC shows a promising future to serve as a supportive, pre-clinical platform to expedite TCT development and bench-to-bedside translation.
Insights
Cancer-on-a-chip (CoC) platforms offer a novel in vitro method for developing and testing targeted cancer therapies (TCTs). These advanced models show promise for accelerating TCT development and clinical translation.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Oncology
- Drug Development
Background:
- Targeted cancer therapy (TCT) aims to minimize side effects by selectively targeting tumor cells.
- Traditional TCT testing relies on 2D cell cultures and animal models, which have limitations.
- Organ-on-a-chip (OoC) technology has advanced to create cancer-on-a-chip (CoC) models for in vitro cancer research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the application of CoC platforms in the development and testing of TCTs.
- To explore CoCs for identifying target biomarkers for TCTs.
- To examine CoCs for evaluating both free and encapsulated TCTs.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on CoC platforms and their use in TCT research.
- Focus on three key applications: biomarker identification, testing of un-encapsulated TCTs, and testing of encapsulated TCTs.
- Discussion of current challenges and future potential of CoC technology in TCT development.
Main Results:
- CoC platforms can be utilized to identify potential target biomarkers for TCT development.
- CoCs are effective for testing the efficacy of free, un-encapsulated TCTs.
- CoCs can also be used to assess the performance of encapsulated TCTs.
Conclusions:
- Cancer-on-a-chip technology presents a promising pre-clinical platform for TCT development.
- CoCs can expedite the translation of TCTs from the laboratory to the clinic.
- Overcoming challenges like system scaling and testing externally triggered therapies is crucial for future advancements.
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