Precision Oncology for High-Grade Gliomas: A Tumor Organoid Model for Adjuvant Treatment Selection

High-grade gliomas (HGGs) are aggressive brain tumors with limited treatment options and poor survival outcomes. Variants including isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-wildtype, IDH-mutant, and histone 3 lysine to methionine substitution (H3K27M)-mutant subtypes demonstrate considerable tumor heterogeneity at the genetic, cellular, and microenvironmental levels. This presents a major barrier to the development of reliable models that recapitulate tumor heterogeneity, allowing for the development of effective therapies. Glioma tumor organoids (GTOs) have emerged as a promising model, offering a balance between biological relevance and practical scalability for precision medicine. In this study, we present a refined methodology for generating three-dimensional, multiregional, patient-derived GTOs across a spectrum of glioma subtypes (including primary and recurrent tumors) while preserving the transcriptomic and phenotypic heterogeneity of their source tumors. We demonstrate the feasibility of a high-throughput drug-screening platform to nominate multi-drug regimens, finding marked variability in drug response, not only between patients and tumor types, but also across regions within the tumor. These findings underscore the critical impact of spatial heterogeneity on therapeutic sensitivity and suggest that multiregional sampling is critical for adequate glioma model development and drug discovery. Finally, regional differential drug responses suggest that multi-agent drug therapy may provide better comprehensive oncologic control and highlight the potential of multiregional GTOs as a clinically actionable tool for personalized treatment strategies in HGG.