Patient-Derived Organoids as Therapy Screening Platforms in Cancer Patients

Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) developed ex vivo and in vitro are increasingly used for therapeutic screening. They provide a more physiologically relevant model for drug discovery and development compared to traditional cell lines. However, several challenges remain to be addressed to fully realize the potential of PDOs in therapeutic screening. This paper summarizes recent advancements in PDO development and the enhancement of PDO culture models. This is achieved by leveraging materials engineering and microfabrication technologies, including organs-on-a-chip and droplet microfluidics. Additionally, this work discusses the application of PDOs in therapy screening to meet diverse requirements and overcome bottlenecks in cancer treatment. Furthermore, this work introduces tools for data processing and analysis of organoids, along with their microenvironment. These tools aim to achieve enhanced readouts. Finally, this work explores the challenges and future perspectives of using PDOs in drug development and personalized screening for cancer patients.

Digital holographic microscopy for longitudinal volumetric imaging of growth and treatment response in three-dimensional tumor models

We report the use of digital holographic microscopy (DHM) as a viable microscopy approach for quantitative, nondestructive longitudinal imaging of in vitro three-dimensional (3-D) tumor models. Following established methods, we prepared 3-D cultures of pancreatic cancer cells in overlay geometry on extracellular matrix beds and obtained digital holograms at multiple time points throughout the duration of growth. The holograms were digitally processed and the unwrapped phase images were obtained to quantify the nodule thickness over time under normal growth and in cultures subject to chemotherapy treatment. In this manner, total nodule volumes are rapidly estimated and demonstrated here to show contrasting time-dependent changes during growth and in response to treatment. This work suggests the utility of DHM to quantify changes in 3-D structure over time and suggests the further development of this approach for time-lapse monitoring of 3-D morphological changes during growth and in response to treatment that would otherwise be impractical to visualize.