Successful Patient-Derived Organoid Culture of Gynecologic Cancers for Disease Modeling and Drug Sensitivity Testing

Abstract

Developing reliable experimental models that can predict clinical response before treating the patient is a high priority in gynecologic cancer research, especially in advanced or recurrent endometrial and ovarian cancers. Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) represent such an opportunity. Herein, we describe our successful creation of 43 tumor organoid cultures and nine adjacent normal tissue organoid cultures derived from patients with endometrial or ovarian cancer. From an initial set of 45 tumor tissues and seven ascites fluid samples harvested at surgery, 83% grew as organoids. Drug sensitivity testing and organoid cell viability assays were performed in 19 PDOs, a process that was accomplished within seven days of obtaining the initial surgical tumor sample. Sufficient numbers of cells were obtained to facilitate testing of the most commonly used agents for ovarian and endometrial cancer. The models reflected a range of sensitivity to platinum-containing chemotherapy as well as other relevant agents. One PDO from a patient treated prior to surgery with neoadjuvant trastuzumab successfully predicted the patient’s postoperative chemotherapy and trastuzumab resistance. In addition, the PDO drug sensitivity assay identified alternative treatment options that are currently used in the second-line setting. Our findings suggest that PDOs could be used as a preclinical platform for personalized cancer therapy for gynecologic cancer patients.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 10, 2021
Source ID
10.3390/cancers13122901

Entities

People

  • A.M. Newtson
  • Eric J Devor
  • Jianling Bi
  • Kimberly K Leslie
  • Kristina W. Thiel
  • Megan I. Samuelson
  • Yuping Zhang

Organizations

  • National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
  • National Institutes of Health
  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Oncology
  • Trauma Surgery or Emergency Medicine.