The power and the promise of organoid models for cancer precision medicine with next-generation functional diagnostics and pharmaceutical exploitation

Yu-Shui Ma; Xiao-Li Yang; Rui Xin; Ting-Miao Wu; Yi Shi; Dan Dan Zhang; Hui-Min Wang; Pei-Yao Wang; Ji-Bin Liu; Da Fu

doi:10.1016/j.tranon.2021.101126

The power and the promise of organoid models for cancer precision medicine with next-generation functional diagnostics and pharmaceutical exploitation

Transl Oncol. 2021 Aug;14(8):101126. doi: 10.1016/j.tranon.2021.101126. Epub 2021 May 18.

Authors

Yu-Shui Ma¹, Xiao-Li Yang², Rui Xin², Ting-Miao Wu³, Yi Shi⁴, Dan Dan Zhang², Hui-Min Wang², Pei-Yao Wang², Ji-Bin Liu⁵, Da Fu⁶

Affiliations

¹ National Engineering Laboratory for Deep Process of Rice and Byproducts, College of Food Science and Engineering, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, Hunan, China; Cancer Institute, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226631, China; International Cooperation Laboratory on Signal Transduction, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital/Institute, National Center for Liver Cancer, the Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
² Central Laboratory for Medical Research, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China.
³ Department of Radiology, The Forth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230012, China.
⁴ National Engineering Laboratory for Deep Process of Rice and Byproducts, College of Food Science and Engineering, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, Hunan, China.
⁵ Cancer Institute, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226631, China.
⁶ National Engineering Laboratory for Deep Process of Rice and Byproducts, College of Food Science and Engineering, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, Hunan, China; Central Laboratory for Medical Research, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China; Department of Radiology, The Forth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230012, China. Electronic address: fu800da900@126.com.

Abstract

As organ-specific three-dimensional cell clusters derived from cancer tissue or cancer-specific stem cells, cancer-derived organoids are organized in the same manner of the cell sorting and spatial lineage restriction in vivo, making them ideal for simulating the characteristics of cancer and the heterogeneity of cancer cells in vivo. Besides the applications as a new in vitro model to study the physiological characteristics of normal tissues and organs, organoids are also used for in vivo cancer cell characterization, anti-cancer drug screening, and precision medicine. However, organoid cultures are not without limitations, i.e., the lack of nerves, blood vessels, and immune cells. As a result, organoids could not fully replicate the characteristics of organs but partially simulate the disease process. This review attempts to provide insights into the organoid models for cancer precision medicine.

Keywords: Cancer; Drug screening; In vitro model; Organoid; Precision medicine.

Publication types

Review