"Mini" liver tumors are manufactured in the laboratory for the first time.

The University of Cambridge has created a "mini" biological model of human primary liver cancer in a laboratory for the first time, the University of Cambridge said on the 16th. The researchers say the micro-tumor model could be used to screen new liver cancer drugs, reduce the number of experimental animals, and even develop personalized therapies for liver cancer patients in the future. The study is published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Medicine.
primary liver cancer is the world's second most deadly cancer. In order to better understand the pathogenesis and develop thetherapy, pathological models need to be developed in the laboratory to accurately simulate the appearance of tumors in patients. Previously, scientists used cell cultures, but they were difficult to maintain and could not reproduce the 3D structure and tissue structure of human tumors.
In the latest study, scientists obtained tumor cells from eight patients and cultured them in special nutrient strains, and obtained a 0.5 mm diameter "tumor-like organ" that mimics the three most common types of primary liver cancer.
they then tested the efficacy of 29 drugs using these tumor-like organs and found that a protein inhibitor inhibited the activity of the ERK protein, which appears on two "tumor-like organs", suggesting that the drug may be one of the preferred drugs for chemotherapy for liver cancer. They also implanted the two tumor-like organs in mice and treated them with the drug, and found that tumor development in the mice taking the drug decreased significantly, suggesting that the protease inhibitor significantly inhibited tumor growth in mice.
in addition, the tumor-like organ retains the gene expression patterns and organizational structure of the original human tumor, and the three different types of tumor-like organs, from different tumor tissues, can be distinguished even if cultured in a petri dish for a long time, so the study is expected to play an important role in developing personalized therapies for patients."We used to use healthy liver organs to make organ-like organs, but the creation of liver tumor-like organs is a key step in cancer research," said Meredith Serhochi, head of research at the
. This will allow us to better understand the biological characteristics of liver cancer and ultimately develop personalized therapies for patients, reducing the need for experimental animals. While many studies still need experimental validation in animals, the new model gives cancer biologists more options. "
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