Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 7, 2025
Quantifying the Brain Metastatic Tumor Micro-Environment using an Organ-On-A Chip 3D Model, Machine Learning, and Confocal Tomography
Published on: August 16, 2020
Channel-assembling tumor microenvironment on-chip for evaluating anticancer drug efficacy.
Jaehun Lee1, Youngwon Kim1, Hyo-Il Jung2
1Yonsei University, School of Mechanical Engineering, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seadaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea; Dongguk University, College of Medicine, 32 Dongguk-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyangsi, Gyeonggi-do 10326, Republic of Korea.
A novel channel-assembling tumor microenvironment-on-chip (CATOC) system enables independent development of vascular and tumor components for precise drug response evaluation. This organ-on-a-chip technology advances personalized medicine by simulating complex tumor microenvironments.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Drug Discovery
- Cancer Research
Background:
- Organ-on-a-chip systems simulate in vivo tumor microenvironments for drug response evaluation.
- Current systems face limitations in sequential development and complex structures, causing molecular interference.
- These challenges hinder the potential of organ-on-a-chip technology in precision medicine.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel channel-assembling tumor microenvironment-on-chip (CATOC) system.
- To overcome limitations of sequential development and complex structures in existing systems.
- To enable independent development and evaluation of drug responses in diverse tumor microenvironments.
Main Methods:
- Developed a modular CATOC system with independently developable blood vessel and tumor microenvironment components.
- Physically interconnected the developed systems to create the complete CATOC.
- Validated anticancer drug responses in different breast tumor microenvironment subtypes using the CATOC.
- Compared on-chip drug response of tumor spheroids with scaffold-free platforms.
Main Results:
- The CATOC system facilitated independent development and interconnection of its components.
- Successfully validated chemical and targeted anticancer drug responses in various breast tumor subtypes.
- Demonstrated the significance of on-chip experiments by observing distinct drug responses.
- Highlighted differences in drug response between CATOC and scaffold-free platforms.
Conclusions:
- The CATOC system offers a flexible and efficient platform for studying tumor microenvironments and drug responses.
- This technology advances the development of personalized and precision medicine approaches.
- On-chip experiments provide valuable insights into drug efficacy within simulated tumor microenvironments.
