Researchers create the first 3D in vitro model capable of isolating specific metastatic cells, which is useful for providing innovative treatment for cancer.

‘3D printing technology could provide means to study cancer cells which helps in treating various cancers’
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"This model is more consistent with what the body is like," said Panoskaltsis-Mortari, "and, therefore, studying the effects of drugs with human cells at this level makes the results more meaningful and predictive of what will happen in the body."Read More..





The 3D vascularized tumor tissues provide a platform to identify potential therapies and screen anticancer drugs. Importantly, this new model also provides a means to study metastatic cells--cancer cells that have entered a blood vessel and traveled to another site.
"One of the reasons this model is successful is that we are better able to control the environment," said Fanben Meng, Post-Doctoral Associate in the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota. "We are able to slowly cause the release of the chemical mediators and create a chemical gradient. It gives the cells time to behave in a way that's similar to what we think happens in the body."
"All of this is enabled by our custom-built 3D printing technology, which allows us to precisely place clusters of cells and chemical depots in a 3D environment," said Michael C. McAlpine, Ph.D., Benjamin Mayhugh Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota and co-corresponding author on the paper.
Initially, the researchers have focused on lung cancer and melanoma. The next step is to incorporate more cell types, especially immune system cells, as well as cell therapies, and study those interactions.
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Something like this can yield some very important answers between the relationship of vasculature and drugs because this is modular; you can add elements to it and make it more sophisticated. You can even use the patients' own tumor cells in this model."
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Source-Eurekalert