A Novel Tumor on Chip Mimicking the Breast Cancer Microenvironment for Dynamic Drug Screening

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cancer Biology
• Drug Discovery

Background:

• Traditional cancer research models like cell cultures and animal models have limitations in replicating the tumor microenvironment (TME) and predicting human drug responses.
• Tumor-on-Chip (ToC) platforms are emerging as crucial tools for studying cancer biology and personalized medicine.
• There is a need for advanced ToC systems that can accurately model TME interactions and facilitate dynamic drug delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel rapid prototyping approach for fabricating a Tumor-on-Chip (ToC) device.
• To evaluate the ToC device's ability to recapitulate cancer and TME cell interactions.
• To assess the efficacy of the ToC device in evaluating drug response in breast cancer cells.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a ToC device using laser-patterned poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) layers.
• Integration of a polylactic acid (PLA) electrospun scaffold within the ToC device.
• Utilizing the ToC device for dynamic drug delivery and assessment of therapeutic efficacy in cancer cells.

Main Results:

• The developed ToC device successfully recapitulated interactions between cancer and TME cells.
• The ToC system demonstrated efficacy in evaluating the drug response of breast cancer cells.
• The rapid prototyping approach enabled efficient fabrication of the ToC platform.

Conclusions:

• The novel ToC device offers a promising platform for cancer research and drug discovery.
• This technology can significantly accelerate the preclinical assessment of new therapeutic agents.
• The ToC system holds substantial potential for various applications in personalized medicine and cancer therapy.