Title:Tumor Organoid as a Drug Screening Platform for Cancer Research
Volume: 19
Issue: 9
Author(s): Reyhaneh Mahbubi Arani, Niloufar Yousefi, Amir Ali Hamidieh, Fatemeh Gholizadeh and Mahsa Mollapour Sisakht*
Affiliation:
- Biotechnology Research Center, Faculty
of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Department of Biochemistry, Erasmus University
Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Keywords:
3D culture, organoid, drug discovery, cancer, translational medicine.
Abstract: A number of studies have been conducted on the application of 3D models for drug discovery,
drug sensitivity assessment, and drug toxicity. Most of these studies focused on disease
modelling and attempted to control cellular differentiation, heterogeneity, and key physiological
features to mimic organ reconstitution so that researchers could achieve an accurate response in drug
evaluation. Recently, organoids have been used by various scientists due to their highly organotypic
structure, which facilitates the translation from basic research to the clinic, especially in cancer research.
With this tool, researchers can perform high-throughput analyses of compounds and determine
the exact effect on patients based on their genetic variations, as well as develop personalized
and combination therapies. Although there is a lack of standardization in organoid culture, patientderived
organoids (PDOs) have become widely established and used for drug testing. In this review,
we have discussed recent advances in the application of organoids and tumoroids not only in cancer
research for drug screening but also in clinical trials to demonstrate the potential of organoids in
translational medicine.
