This technology is a 3D cell culture platform in which a multicellular aggregate is prepared directly from a patient tumor sample, enabling rapid evaluation of chemo- and immunotherapeutic agents ex vivo.
Current cell culture platforms for predicting patient response to cancer therapeutics often fail to recapitulate the physiology of the tumor microenvironment. Two-dimensional cell culture models fail to simulate the architecture and biochemical gradients within and around a solid tumor. 3D cell culture methods have been described that seek to address these limitations, but they do not recapitulate key aspects of the tumor niche, including the presence of the cell-assembled basement membrane that surrounds early stage epithelial-based tumors. As such, there is a need for an improved 3D cell culture method that can provide a rapid, inexpensive, and physiologically-relevant model of the tumor microenvironment to enable personalized cancer treatment.
This technology employs patient-derived cancer cells – and can incorporate patient fibroblasts and immune cells – to create an in vitro 3D cell culture that mimics the tumor microenvironment, allowing rapid screening of therapeutics for personalized cancer treatment. The 3D cell cultures only require 1-2 days of preparation post patient cell collection and thus allow for high-throughput screening of chemo- and immuno-therapeutic efficacy. Unlike existing 3D cell culture methods, this technology produces organoids with a cell-assembled basement membrane layer. As the basement membrane is present in early carcinomas, this technology may be used to assess both anti-proliferative and anti-invasive drug sensitivity, an important clinical distinction for preventing metastasis. This “shelled organoid” technology could thus enable clinicians to personalize treatment plans to ensure patients receive therapeutics that optimally target not only cancer cell proliferation but also invasion.
Prototypic shelled organoids prepared from patient-derived breast cancer cells have been prepared and have undergone initial testing for anti-tumor treatment. In addition, in vitro testing with cell lines prepared as shelled spheroids have been used to validate the model. These studies have all yielded promising results.
Patent Status (Patent #)
Patent Pending
IR CU17069
Licensing Contact: Beth Kauderer