In Vitro Tumor Models on Chip and Integrated Microphysiological Analysis Platform (MAP) for Life Sciences and High-Throughput Drug Screening

Abstract

The evolution of preclinical in vitro cancer models has led to the emergence of human cancer-on-chip or microphysiological analysis platforms (MAPs). Although it has numerous advantages compared to other models, cancer-on-chip technology still faces several challenges such as the complexity of the tumor microenvironment and integrating multiple organs to be widely accepted in cancer research and therapeutics. In this review, we highlight the advancements in cancer-on-chip technology in recapitulating the vital biological features of various cancer types and their applications in life sciences and high-throughput drug screening. We present advances in reconstituting the tumor microenvironment and modeling cancer stages in breast, brain, and other types of cancer. We also discuss the relevance of MAPs in cancer modeling and precision medicine such as effect of flow on cancer growth and the short culture period compared to clinics. The advanced MAPs provide high-throughput platforms with integrated biosensors to monitor real-time cellular responses applied in drug development. We envision that the integrated cancer MAPs has a promising future with regard to cancer research, including cancer biology, drug discovery, and personalized medicine.

Mammary Glands of Women, Female Dogs and Female Rats: Similarities and Differences to Be Considered in Breast Cancer Research

“…They can be produced using various methods, such as hanging drop culture, hydrogel, rotary cell culture, or magnetic levitation methodologies, and can be maintained in culture for prolonged periods of time (>14 days) [ 223 ]. In addition, spheroids enable researchers to model in vitro key features of human tumors including 3D cell–cell contacts, proliferation, the existence of hypoxic regions, the formation of pH/nutrient gradients and nutrient deprivation, metastasis events, and interactions with immune system cells [ 224 , 225 ]. Spheroids are frequently employed as an initial strategy in the drug discovery process, allowing for high-throughput/high-content imaging analysis of the top-performing formulations before moving on to more complex and expensive animal models [ 226 ].…”

Enabling continuous immune cell recirculation on a microfluidic array to study immunotherapeutic interactions in a recapitulated tumour microenvironment

“…Our group and others have reported different tumour chips with the capabilities of screening cancer drugs in a high-throughput manner or This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2024 studying cell-cell interactions. [15][16][17][18] Compared with conventional drug screening, tumour chips maintaining 3D culture supported by sustained medium flow better mimic the human in vivo physiological characteristics. [19][20][21][22] A few new designs have been recently developed to investigate immune cell migration, where immune cells were either embedded in gel with cancer cells or seeded onto the gel surface.…”

Rocking- and diffusion-based culture of tumor spheroids-on-a-chip

“…[4][5][6][7] More recently, considerable efforts have been devoted to 3D models, including tumor spheroids, organoids, and organ-on-achip systems, opening a new perspective for clinical and preclinic applications. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Yet, commonly accessible, user-friendly, and cost-effective microfluidic technologies are still lacking in such a context, and most of the systems developed so far rely on the use of pumps, valves, chip devices, and tube connections. Because of the complexity of systems, expert knowledge and skill are needed, and care has to be exercised with great caution to avoid contamination, bubble generation, leakage, etc.…”