Scientist I ThermoFisher Scientific Charles Town, West Virginia, United States
Introduction: There is a need for precision medicine tailored to each patient’s unique characteristics to enable improved cancer treatment. Functional precision oncology is a method that helps to combat this issue. With this method, cancer cells of a patient are cultured ex vivo to evaluate responses to different treatments. Clinicians could use this information to choose the most effective treatment for that specific patient. The cells taken from patients usually form 3D structures, called tumoroids. These tumoroids keep many of the same genotypic and phenotypic characteristics as the original cancer. Ongoing studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between the way a patient responds to treatments and how their cancer cells behave in tumoroid models, indicating that tumoroid technology could be used on functional precision oncology applications
Materials and
Methods: The purpose of this study was to test a method for quickly growing tumoroids using a serum and culture free medium. This type of medium provides a more controlled and defined environment for cell culture. The medium used was Gibco™ OncoPro™ Tumoroid Culture Medium. Tumor resection samples shipped overnight using Hibernate -A Medium to a processing lab, where it was minced, dissociated enzymatically, and counted
Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: Results There were varying amounts of cell yields from the samples received. The average yield was around 2,000-12,000 cells per milligram of tumor tissue. Higher yields were seen in endometrial and colorectal cancers, while lower yields were seen in lung and, head and neck, and breast cancers. There was also variability in cell viability, with the lowest of 20% for some samples and 90% for others. Despite this, more than 85% of the samples received formed tumoroids after 7 days in culture. The genetic characteristics of the tumor cells after dissociation and culturing remained similar with mutational profiles and gene expression conserved above 90%. Discussion The variability in cell yields and viability across different cancer types shows the effects of patient tumor heterogeneity. Different cancer types present different tumor microenvironments and cellular composition. Despite this variability, the formation of tumoroids from a majority of samples highlights the effectiveness of the OncoPro Tumoroid Culture Medium in supporting cell growth. Preservation of genetic characteristics, including mutational profiles and gene expression, suggests tissue processing maintaining molecular features from patient samples. This is vital for replicating tumor behaviors and drug responses in vitro.
Conclusion The findings from the study demonstrate the ability and the reliability of utilizing the OncoPro medium to grow and culture tumoroids from patient samples while still maintaining distinct patient characteristics. Despite the variations in cell yields and viability across different cancer types, most of the samples successfully formed tumoroids, with genetic characteristics remaining largely conserved. The OncoPro medium has tremendous potential in facilitating personalized by providing an innovative platform for the study of individual tumor characteristics. Further research and exploration could yield valuable insights into helping optimize personalized approaches for cancer patients.
