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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
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Cultivating Ex Vivo Patient-Derived Glioma Organoids Using a Tissue Chopper
Published on: January 19, 2024
Expanded GEP-NET organoid culture for personalized therapy evaluation
Steven D Forsythe1, Srujana V Yellapragada1, Tracey Pu2
1Neuroendocrine Cancer Therapy Section, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Science Advances
|July 24, 2026
Summary
Patient tumor organoids (PTOs) offer a new way to study rare gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). These models accurately reflect patient tumors, enabling personalized therapeutic strategies.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Gastroenterology
- Cancer Biology
Background:
- Gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) are rare cancers with limited treatment options due to slow growth and lack of targetable mutations.
- The absence of accurate and applicable study models hinders progress in GEP-NET research and therapeutic development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and characterize patient tumor organoids (PTOs) from GEP-NETs for use in translational research.
- To assess the feasibility of culturing and expanding GEP-NET PTOs while maintaining their key characteristics.
- To evaluate the potential of PTOs as models for therapeutic targeting and personalized medicine.
Main Methods:
- Generation of patient tumor organoids (PTOs) from 35 GEP-NET tumors across pancreatic, small intestinal, and gastric origins.
- Characterization of PTOs through immunohistochemistry and genomic profiling to confirm maintenance of GEP-NET features.
- Assessment of PTO growth kinetics across different tumor grades (G1, G2/G3) and passages.
- Evaluation of therapeutic responses in PTOs to standard of care and investigational agents.
- Development of a patient tumor organoid xenograft model.
Main Results:
- Successful establishment of GEP-NET PTOs from diverse tumor origins and subtypes, including hormone-functional and *MEN1*/*VHL* mutant tumors.
- PTOs maintained key immunohistochemical and genomic characteristics of the original patient tumors.
- Tumor grade influenced the cultureability of PTOs, with G1 tumors growing to passage 4 and half of G2/G3 tumors cultured past passage 6.
- PTOs accurately reflected patient tumor sensitivity and resistance profiles when tested with various therapies.
- A functional PTO xenograft model was successfully developed.
Conclusions:
- GEP-NET patient tumor organoids are feasible to develop and expand, serving as valuable preclinical models.
- These organoids maintain critical patient-specific tumor characteristics, enabling the study of GEP-NET biology and drug response.
- The development of GEP-NET PTOs facilitates translational investigations and the exploration of personalized therapeutic strategies for these rare cancers.
