3D Organoids Lead The Way For Personalized Cancer Therapy

As an inherently molecular approach to cancer therapy, precision medicine relies entirely on matching up individualized responses with potential treatments — something organoids are uniquely suited to predict given their composition.

Organoids' utility — like their biology — is multidimensional: As authors of an exploratory paper in the Journal of Hematology and Oncology pointed out, 3D organoids are ideal for personalized medicine because they can mimic in vivo biology in genotype and phenotype, plus represent natural iterative evolutions that can span multiple generations.

Organoids are derived from stem cells or progenitor cells, and when mixed with a hydrogel, such as Corning® Matrigel® matrix or collagen for organoid cultures, create a functioning mini-manifestation of the parent organ.

What results is a tiny bladder, breast, liver, or other material that you can see, study, and interact with to test and optimize cancer therapies — just as if it were in vivo. But it's not, and that has many advantages.