Breast Cancer Organoids
Advancing breast cancer research with patient-derived organoids
Understanding breast cancer organoids
Breast cancer organoids are derived from patients’ primary breast tumor cells and incubated in multi-well plates. These patient-derived 3D cancer models can recapitulate the original tumor’s heterogeneity and morphology, as well as its complex genetic and molecular composition. By using patient-derived cells, breast cancer organoids provide a clinically relevant platform to study tumor physiology and response to targeted therapies.
The Importance of breast cancer organoids in modern research
Early detection and treatment are crucial in the survival rate of breast cancer patients. This necessitates the use of clinically relevant tumor models to understand the mechanism, analyze tumor biomarkers, and screen anticancer drugs. Breast cancer organoids, also known as tumoroids, serve as valuable tools in cancer research, drug development, and personalized medicine. They accelerate drug development and testing by providing a more accurate representation of tumor behavior compared to traditional 2D models. Moreover, they help in identifying lead compounds by allowing the screening of large compound libraries when integrated into automated drug screening workflows.
Advancements in organoid scaling and assay automation have helped to standardize breast cancer PDO workflows. Our 3D Ready Organoids are manufactured in an industrial environment using our proprietary bioreactor technology and rigorously controlled processes. Many millions of standardized, consistently sized, and quality-tested organoids can now be generated in a single batch. The breast cancer organoids are cryopreserved and can be used when required for high-throughput assays. Using liquid handling to plate the PDOs in multi-well dishes and treat with compounds significantly reduces errors and hands-on time. Changes upon drug treatment can be evaluated using suitable assays and image analyses.
Innovative research and solutions using 3D triple-negative breast cancer organoids
We present results for breast cancer disease modeling using patient-derived organoids (PDOs) formed from primary cells isolated from a patient-derived tumor, TU-BcX-4IC.2. TU-BcX-4IC represents a rare breast cancer subtype, metaplastic breast cancer (MBC), and is classified as a triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) histological subtype. Our research focuses on triple-negative breast cancer, a clinically aggressive tumor subtype with high rates of metastasis, recurrence, and drug resistance. Currently, there are no clinically approved small molecule targeted therapies for this disease, underlining the critical need to discover new therapeutic targets.
Automated imaging and analysis of tumoroids are essential for the quantitative assessment of phenotypic changes and dose-dependent drug responses. With immunofluorescence staining, tumoroids can be analyzed using an automated confocal imaging system to evaluate the dose-dependent effects of anticancer drugs. Additionally, software tools provide informative read-outs, such as tumoroid size, integrity (area), intensities for different marker expression levels, and cell count.
Learn how Tulane University worked with Molecular Devices in their search to find more relevant therapies for clinically aggressive cancers by developing a method to simplify, automate, and scale up complex 3D cell-based assays. Register for on-demand webinar
Additional resources for in-depth breast cancer organoid studies
Here we present our results for breast cancer disease modeling using PDOs formed from primary cells isolated from a patient-derived tumor. Learn how to analyze breast cancer tumoroid growth and the efficacy of anticancer treatments with high-throughput screening and high-content imaging solutions: