Exposing miniature versions of tumours to different drugs in the lab helped children with advanced cancer live for longer in a small trial
By Clare Wilson
11 April 2024
Micrograph of human colon cancer cells in a three-dimensional extracellular matrix
TORSTEN WITTMANN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
The next innovation in cancer treatment could be to test all possible drugs on thousands of miniature versions of a person’s tumour, grown in the lab, to see which works the best. The technique, sometimes called drug sensitivity testing, may have already helped a few children with advanced cancer live for longer than the standard approach.
It could eventually become routinely used for everyone with cancer, says Diana Azzam at Florida International University in Miami. “I would say it will help guide treatments in any [cancer], whether it’s aggressive or not.”
The cells used for growing the mini-cancers are obtained when someone has biopsies taken from their tumour or when they have surgery to remove the whole thing.
Advertisement
Read more
mRNA cancer therapy now in human trials after shrinking mouse tumours
The approach means more than 100 different cancer drugs or combinations of drugs can be tested on thousands of clumps of cells grown in small dishes, using robotic equipment to apply them to each dish and nurture the cells for about 10 days. The treatment that proves most effective at stopping the cells from multiplying can then be used as a therapy.
Currently, doctors select whichever drug is usually employed against that cancer type or use their judgement to choose between a few options. If the first treatment fails to make the tumour shrink, a different drug would then be tried, but this trial-and-error process can take months and may have harsh side effects.