Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2025
Modeling Oral-Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in 3D Organoids
Published on: December 23, 2022
Advancing precision medicine in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma using patient-derived organoids
Suya Shen1, Bing Liu2, Wenyan Guan3
1Department of Pancreatic and Metabolic Surgery, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210008, China.
Background:
Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) represent a promising approach for replicating the characteristics of original tumors and facilitating drug testing for personalized treatments across diverse cancer types. However, clinical evidence regarding their application to esophageal cancer remains limited. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of implementing PDOs in clinical practice to benefit patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).
Methods:
Fresh surgical biopsies were obtained from patients with esophageal cancer for the establishment of PDOs. These PDOs were subsequently characterized through histological analysis. A customized drug panel, based on standard-of-care chemotherapy regimens, was applied to the PDOs. The resulting drug sensitivity profiles were then correlated with the clinical responses observed in individual patients undergoing actual treatment.
Results:
A total of 34 PDOs were successfully established with a 61.8% success rate. The classification method based on chemotherapy sensitivity closely corresponded to clinical responses. The paclitaxel plus cisplatin (TP)-sensitive group demonstrated significantly longer progression-free survival (PFS) compared to the resistant groups, Hazard ratio (HR), 5.12; 95% confidence intervals (CI 0.58-44.71; p < 0.05), thus illustrating the potential of this approach for guiding personalized treatment strategies.
Conclusion:
Organoid biobanks were established across multiple institutes to facilitate PDOs-based functional precision medicine. The findings demonstrate that this framework offers robust predictive value in clinical settings, enhances precision therapeutics, and advances drug discovery for esophageal cancer.
Insights
Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) show promise for personalized esophageal cancer treatment. PDOs accurately predicted patient response to chemotherapy, guiding more effective precision medicine strategies.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Translational Medicine
- Cancer Biology
Background:
- Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) model patient tumors for drug testing.
- Clinical data on PDOs for esophageal cancer is limited.
- Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) requires novel therapeutic strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- Evaluate the clinical utility of PDOs for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).
- Assess PDOs' efficacy in predicting patient response to chemotherapy.
- Advance personalized medicine for esophageal cancer patients.
Main Methods:
- Established PDOs from fresh esophageal cancer biopsies.
- Characterized PDOs using histological analysis.
- Tested PDOs against a drug panel mirroring clinical chemotherapy regimens.
- Correlated PDO drug sensitivity with patient clinical outcomes.
Main Results:
- Successfully established 34 PDOs (61.8% success rate).
- PDO chemotherapy sensitivity profiles accurately predicted clinical responses.
- Patients predicted as sensitive to paclitaxel plus cisplatin (TP) showed significantly longer progression-free survival (PFS).
Conclusions:
- Established organoid biobanks for functional precision medicine in esophageal cancer.
- Demonstrated the predictive value of PDOs in clinical settings.
- Highlighted PDOs' potential to enhance precision therapeutics and drug discovery for ESCC.
