Tumor Assembloids as Three-Dimensional Platforms for Modeling Drug Delivery Barriers: Construction Strategies,...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Drug Delivery

Background:

• Conventional preclinical cancer models struggle to replicate in vivo drug delivery challenges.
• Tumor assembloids offer a 3D framework to simulate multicellular barriers like stromal, endothelial, and immune interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the application of tumor assembloids in studying drug delivery constraints within tumors.
• To compare different tumor assembloid construction strategies for drug assessment.

Main Methods:

• Examination of literature on tumor assembloids for drug delivery research.
• Comparison of self-assembly, 3D bioprinting, and microfluidic compartmentalization techniques.
• Evaluation of assembloids' ability to model stromal exclusion, vascular transport, and immune resistance.

Main Results:

• Tumor assembloids can simulate various drug delivery barriers, including penetration gradients and heterogeneous exposure.
• Self-assembly, 3D bioprinting, and microfluidics present distinct advantages for drug assessment in assembloids.
• Current limitations include reproducibility issues and incomplete physiological representation.

Conclusions:

• Tumor assembloids are promising platforms for mechanistic studies of tumor drug delivery barriers.
• Further validation and standardized assays are crucial for the clinical application of tumor assembloids.