Advances and Challenges in Human 3D Solid Tumor Models

The field of cancer biology and therapeutics has soared in the past several decades with new therapeutic modalities and options for patients, such as chemoradiotherapy, immunotherapy, and combination therapy. This dramatic success in expanding patient options is primarily attributed to the development of various model systems to elucidate drivers of oncogenesis, tumor maturation and evolution, and response to therapeutics. While mouse models have been a workhorse of cancer research, technological progress in ex vivo patient-derived tumor models has afforded more tunable and scrutable systems for patient-predictive platforms and mechanistic study. This review explores the technological innovations in 3D solid tumor models and their applicability to various aspects of cancer biology and the identification of therapeutics. Features of the tumor and tumor microenvironment like spatial heterogeneity, multicellular populations, and genomic variations are addressed and elaborated through the establishment of new in vitro models. The integration of perfusable vasculature with 3D tumor models and the potentially wide-ranging applications of these more complex platforms in precision medicine and cancer immunotherapy are further addressed. Finally, an outlook on the future of experimental cancer models for both biological investigation and bench-to-bedside pipeline development is provided.

Duke Scholars

Author Shyni Varghese Orthopaedic Surgery