Organoid and Spheroid Tumor Models: Techniques and Applications

Sreenivasulu Gunti; Austin T K Hoke; Kenny P Vu; Nyall R London Jr

doi:10.3390/cancers13040874

Organoid and Spheroid Tumor Models: Techniques and Applications

Cancers (Basel). 2021 Feb 19;13(4):874. doi: 10.3390/cancers13040874.

Authors

Sreenivasulu Gunti¹, Austin T K Hoke^{1

2}, Kenny P Vu¹, Nyall R London Jr^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Sinonasal and Skull Base Tumor Program, Head and Neck Surgery Branch, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
² University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill-School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, USA.
³ Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.

Abstract

Techniques to develop three-dimensional cell culture models are rapidly expanding to bridge the gap between conventional cell culture and animal models. Organoid and spheroid cultures have distinct and overlapping purposes and differ in cellular sources and protocol for establishment. Spheroids are of lower complexity structurally but are simple and popular models for drug screening. Organoids histologically and genetically resemble the original tumor from which they were derived. Ease of generation, ability for long-term culture and cryopreservation make organoids suitable for a wide range of applications. Organoids-on-chip models combine organoid methods with powerful designing and fabrication of micro-chip technology. Organoid-chip models can emulate the dynamic microenvironment of tumor pathophysiology as well as tissue-tissue interactions. In this review, we outline different tumor spheroid and organoid models and techniques to establish them. We also discuss the recent advances and applications of tumor organoids with an emphasis on tumor modeling, drug screening, personalized medicine and immunotherapy.

Keywords: air–liquid interface; drug screening; immunotherapy; microfluidics; organoid biobanks; organoids; organoids-on-chip; personalized medicine; spheroids; tumor modeling.

Publication types

Review