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Clusters of tumour cells could be used to identify most effective treatment for each patient.
Posted On: December 30, 2015
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The pancreas is an organ located behind the stomach, which secretes enzymes that aid digestion and hormones that modulate blood sugar levels.
Pancreatic cancer is the deadliest form of cancer affecting Canadians: according to the Canadian Cancer Society, 93% of patients succumb to the disease within five years of their diagnosis. In light of these dismal statistics, researchers are working tirelessly to develop more effective treatments for the disease.
PM Senior Scientist Dr. Senthil Muthuswamy and his collaborators have developed a new experimental model of pancreatic cancer that could provide patients with more personalized treatments and improved health outcomes.
The new model consists of three-dimensional clusters of cells derived from patient tumour samples, which can be cultured and grown in the laboratory. The researchers found that these clusters preserve many of the physiological features of the original tumour, recapitulating aspects of a patient's disease phenotype more accurately than other culture models currently available. In particular, the researchers found that clusters originating from different tumours displayed differential sensitivity to an anti-cancer drug.
These findings suggest that tumour cell clusters could be used for personalized drug screens to identify the most effective treatment regimen for each patient's pancreatic cancer. However, larger and more rigorous studies are needed before this strategy can be incorporated into clinical practice.
This work was supported by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. C Arrowsmith and G Keller hold Tier 1 Canada Research Chairs in Structural Proteomics and in Embryonic Stem Cell Biology, respectively.
Ductal pancreatic cancer modeling and drug screening using human pluripotent stem cell- and patient-derived tumor organoids. Huang L, Holtzinger A, Jagan I, BeGora M, Lohse I, Ngai N, Nostro C, Wang R, Muthuswamy LB, Crawford HC, Arrowsmith C, Kalloger SE, Renouf DJ, Connor AA, Cleary S, Schaeffer DF, Roehrl M, Tsao MS, Gallinger S, Keller G, Muthuswamy SK. Nature Medicine. 2015 November. [Pubmed abstract]
PM Senior Scientist Dr. Senthil Muthuswamy and his collaborators have developed a new experimental model of pancreatic cancer that could provide patients with more personalized treatments and improved health outcomes.
The new model consists of three-dimensional clusters of cells derived from patient tumour samples, which can be cultured and grown in the laboratory. The researchers found that these clusters preserve many of the physiological features of the original tumour, recapitulating aspects of a patient's disease phenotype more accurately than other culture models currently available. In particular, the researchers found that clusters originating from different tumours displayed differential sensitivity to an anti-cancer drug.
These findings suggest that tumour cell clusters could be used for personalized drug screens to identify the most effective treatment regimen for each patient's pancreatic cancer. However, larger and more rigorous studies are needed before this strategy can be incorporated into clinical practice.
This work was supported by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. C Arrowsmith and G Keller hold Tier 1 Canada Research Chairs in Structural Proteomics and in Embryonic Stem Cell Biology, respectively.
Ductal pancreatic cancer modeling and drug screening using human pluripotent stem cell- and patient-derived tumor organoids. Huang L, Holtzinger A, Jagan I, BeGora M, Lohse I, Ngai N, Nostro C, Wang R, Muthuswamy LB, Crawford HC, Arrowsmith C, Kalloger SE, Renouf DJ, Connor AA, Cleary S, Schaeffer DF, Roehrl M, Tsao MS, Gallinger S, Keller G, Muthuswamy SK. Nature Medicine. 2015 November. [Pubmed abstract]