Tumors in a Dish: New Opportunities for Personalized Medicine

Our team develops a versatile platform for drug testing as a substitute for animal experiments.

Most studies evaluating anti-cancer therapeutics proceed from human cell culture to preclinical cell line or patient derived mouse tumor models. These models poorly recapitulate the complexity, heterogeneity, and physiology of human tumors.

We are advancing methods that enable the long-term ex vivo cultivation of tumor tissues. New (targeted) therapeutics and combination therapies are evaluated in these tissue cultures to optimize treatment regimes. We also use state-of-the-art 3D printing techniques, so-called de novo technology, to replicate human tissues, made from biomaterials and cells. By cultivating them in microfluidic systems we ensure a constant and gradual supply of nutrients and/or tested drugs. Finally, the data derived from the ex vivo and de novo approaches can be used by simulation and mathematical modeling experts to create in silico tumor models that reliably predict therapy responses to anti-cancer drugs.

By combining ex vivo tumor tissue cultures, de novo bioengineered tissues, and in silico simulations, our platform provides realistic alternatives to traditional animal models. These approaches allow us to test therapies in human-relevant systems, thereby both replacing animal models and reducing the number of animals needed for preclinical studies.