Validation of a multicellular tumor microenvironment system for modeling patient tumor biology and drug response

Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 10;11(1):5535. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-84612-z.

Abstract

Lung cancer rates are rising globally and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has a five year survival rate of only 24%. Unfortunately, the development of drugs to treat cancer is severely hampered by the inefficiency of translating pre-clinical studies into clinical benefit. Thus, we sought to apply a tumor microenvironment system (TMES) to NSCLC. Using microvascular endothelial cells, lung cancer derived fibroblasts, and NSCLC tumor cells in the presence of in vivo tumor-derived hemodynamic flow and transport, we demonstrate that the TMES generates an in-vivo like biological state and predicts drug response to EGFR inhibitors. Transcriptomic and proteomic profiling indicate that the TMES recapitulates the in vivo and patient molecular biological state providing a mechanistic rationale for the predictive nature of the TMES. This work further validates the TMES for modeling patient tumor biology and drug response indicating utility of the TMES as a predictive tool for drug discovery and development and potential for use as a system for patient avatars.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / metabolism*
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / pathology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Endothelial Cells / metabolism*
  • Endothelial Cells / pathology
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Mice, SCID
  • Models, Biological*
  • Tumor Microenvironment*