We designed a new way to build miniature fluidic devices to enable personalized cancer treatment

by Sara Hassanpour Tamrin, Arindom Sen, The Conversation

edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Andrew Zinin

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There is no "one-size-fits-all" treatment for patients living with cancer. Cancer occurs when normal cells in the body genetically mutate and transform into abnormal cells that divide uncontrollably.

In most cases, these cancer cells form a solid mass of tissue called a tumor. The genetic changes that cause a tumor can influence its composition, so two people may have the same type of cancer but different types of tumors. A treatment may then work for one patient but not another.

Tumor-on-a-chip technology enables us to recreate features of an individual patient's tumor outside the body and test different treatments. The chips are biomedical devices small enough to fit into the palm of a hand. They contain tiny channels, called microfluidic systems, through which nutrient-rich fluids can flow to support tumor growth.

The technology is promising but difficult and expensive to manufacture. We have developed a simple, cost-effective way to build chips containing microfluidic systems, with the goal of making the technology more accessible.

We are also now exploring the use of this technology for childhood brain cancer.

Creating tumors outside the body

Treatments that work well in the laboratory are not always effective in patients. One reason is that tumors recreated in laboratory dishes typically do not include the complex tumor environment found inside the body.

In the body, tumor cells interact with cells and signals from their surroundings, which can alter how they behave and respond to a treatment.

The ability to sample cancer cells from a patient and grow the tumor within a complex environment outside the body could help doctors safely and efficiently test a wide range of personalized treatment options for that patient. This would help avoid ineffective treatments and save time in finding the right approach.

The microfluidic system inside the device allows nutrient-rich fluids to flow around the cells in a similar way to how blood flows through vessels. Tumor cells and other noncancerous cell types normally found near the tumor can be grown together to create more complex tumor microenvironments.

Compared with the simple way tumors are typically grown in a laboratory dish, this approach may provide a more realistic way to study how tumors behave in living organs and how they respond to different treatments.

It is important to note that tumor-on-a-chip technology cannot recreate the entire human body or replace clinical trials.

Democratizing technology

Although promising for personalized cancer research, tumor-on-a-chip technology is not always easy to access. Manufacturing these microfluidic devices can be complicated and expensive. Traditional methods often require costly materials, specialized equipment and facilities, and trained experts. This creates a barrier to widespread device manufacturing and adoption.

To lower this barrier, we have developed a simple and low-cost way to make miniature devices with very narrow flow channels. In our recent study, we showed the devices could be built using more accessible materials while still providing the conditions needed to grow and study complex, functional human tissue.

The significance goes beyond simply making the devices easier and cheaper to build. It is about democratizing the technology. Our work could make these devices affordable and accessible to more laboratories and eventually help move tumor-on-a-chip technology toward clinical use, where doctors can use it to identify the best treatment regimen for each patient.

Tackling childhood brain cancer

Tumor-on-a-chip technology has the potential to change how tumors are clinically treated. It can also be a valuable research tool. Researchers can use it to learn how tumors grow and change, find new diagnostic markers and develop new treatments.

We are now exploring how this technology could help us better understand childhood brain cancer. Cancer cells, including those in brain tumors, release tiny particles called extracellular vesicles. These particles carry information about the cancer cells, and this information changes as the cancer develops. By studying these tiny particles over time, researchers can better understand how cancers grow and change.

Using this technology, we can create a model of a brain tumor outside the body and track the tiny particles it releases over time. This could provide a safer way to study how a tumor changes, as accessing brain tumor tissue from a patient over time can be invasive, painful and risky.

In the future, this information could help us find new ways to treat cancer. It might also help identify early signs of cancer and enable earlier diagnosis.

Key medical concepts

Tumor MicroenvironmentExtracellular Vesicles

Clinical categories

Oncology Provided by The Conversation Who's behind this story?

Gaby Clark

MA in English, copy editor since 2021 with experience in higher education and health content. Dedicated to trustworthy science news. Full profile →

Andrew Zinin

Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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