Multicellular Tumor Spheroids in Nanomedicine Research: A Perspective

Front Med Technol. 2022 Jun 15:4:909943. doi: 10.3389/fmedt.2022.909943. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Multicellular tumor spheroids are largely exploited in cancer research since they are more predictive than bi-dimensional cell cultures. Nanomedicine would benefit from the integration of this three-dimensional in vitro model in screening protocols. In this brief work, we discuss some of the issues that cancer nanomedicine will need to consider in the switch from bi-dimensional to three-dimensional multicellular tumor spheroid models.

Keywords: 3D in vitro models; cell culture monolayers; drug delivery; drug targeting; high-throughput screening; nanoparticles.