A Protocol for Organoids from the Urine of Bladder Cancer Patients

Simon Walz; Paul Pollehne; Ruizhi Geng; Johannes Schneider; Moritz Maas; Wilhelm K Aicher; Arnulf Stenzl; Bastian Amend; Niklas Harland

doi:10.3390/cells12172188

A Protocol for Organoids from the Urine of Bladder Cancer Patients

Cells. 2023 Aug 31;12(17):2188. doi: 10.3390/cells12172188.

Authors

Simon Walz¹, Paul Pollehne², Ruizhi Geng², Johannes Schneider², Moritz Maas¹, Wilhelm K Aicher², Arnulf Stenzl¹, Bastian Amend¹, Niklas Harland¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, Tuebingen University Hospital, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
² Center for Medical Research, University of Tuebingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.

Abstract

This study investigates the feasibility of establishing urine-derived tumor organoids from bladder cancer (BC) patients as an alternative to tissue-derived organoids. BC is one of the most common cancers worldwide and current diagnostic methods involve invasive procedures. Here, we investigated the potential of using urine samples, which contain exfoliated tumor cells, to generate urine-derived BC organoids (uBCOs). Urine samples from 29 BC patients were collected and cells were isolated and cultured in a three-dimensional matrix. The establishment and primary expansion of uBCOs were successful in 83% of the specimens investigated. The culturing efficiency of uBCOs was comparable to cancer tissue-derived organoids. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence to characterize the uBCOs exhibited similar expressions of BC markers compared to the parental tumor. These findings suggest that urine-derived BC organoids hold promise as a non-invasive tool for studying BC and evaluating therapeutic responses. This approach could potentially minimize the need for invasive procedures and provide a platform for personalized drug screening. Further research in this area may lead to improved diagnostic and treatment strategies for BC patients.

Keywords: bladder cancer; organoids; personalized medicine.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Body Fluids*
Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
Humans
Organoids
Urinary Bladder Neoplasms*

Grants and funding

This research was funded in part by grants from the DFG to A.S. (GRK2543 # 409474577 and, from the EU (OCT-detector E!115301/01QE2133C), respectively, and in part by institutional funds. We also acknowledge support from the Open Access Publication Fund of the University of Tuebingen.