title: Microfluidic 3D models of cancer.
abstract: Despite advances in medicine and biomedical sciences, cancer still remains a major health issue. Complex interactions between tumors and their microenvironment contribute to tumor initiation and progression and also contribute to the development of drug resistant tumor cell populations. The complexity and heterogeneity of tumors and their microenvironment make it challenging to both study and treat cancer. Traditional animal cancer models and in vitro cancer models are limited in their ability to recapitulate human structures and functions, thus hindering the identification of appropriate drug targets and therapeutic strategies. The development and application of microfluidic 3D cancer models have the potential to overcome some of the limitations inherent to traditional models. This review summarizes the progress in microfluidic 3D cancer models, their benefits, and their broad application to basic cancer biology, drug screening, and drug discovery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA; Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Kyung Eun
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA; Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA. Electronic address: djbeebe@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Beebe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D055808:Drug Discovery / Q000379:methods; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000379:methods; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: 3D in vitro system; Biomimetics; Cancer; Drug testing; High-throughput screening; Microfluidics; Tumor microenvironment