Abstract: |
Predicting the response of human cancers to therapeutic agents is challenging. Preclinical cancer models which can accurately and durably represent the tumor biology and heterogeneity of human tumors are invaluable for mechanistic cancer discovery and drug development. Patient-derived xenograft models and cancer cell lines have been the mainstay of preclinical models in oncologic research and therapeutic advancement to date, although limitations in each of these approaches have minimized their routine clinical applicability. The development of three-dimensional spheroid, or "organoid" culturing technologies which have transformed the ability to model difficult-to-culture cancers such as prostate cancer, have shown great promise in overcoming some of the limitations of cancer cell lines and xenografts. Combining the excellent genomic fidelity to the originating human tumor even after serial passaging with the ease of in vitro manipulation and increasing efficiency of establishment, the potential of organoids in the study of cancer biology as well as in high-throughput drug screening is just being realized. Organoid culturing technologies may represent a promising strategy for clinically relevant precision medicine. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |