title: 3D Culture as a Clinically Relevant Model for Personalized Medicine.
abstract: Advances in understanding many of the fundamental mechanisms of cancer progression have led to the development of molecular targeted therapies. While molecular targeted therapeutics continue to improve the outcome for cancer patients, tumor heterogeneity among patients, as well as intratumoral heterogeneity, limits the efficacy of these drugs to specific patient subtypes, as well as contributes to relapse. Thus, there is a need for a more personalized approach toward drug development and diagnosis that takes into account the diversity of cancer patients, as well as the complex milieu of tumor cells within a single patient. Three-dimensional (3D) culture systems paired with patient-derived xenografts or patient-derived organoids may provide a more clinically relevant system to address issues presented by personalized or precision medical approaches. In this review, we cover the current methods available for applying 3D culture systems toward personalized cancer research and drug development, as well as key challenges that must be addressed in order to fully realize the potential of 3D patient-derived culture systems for cancer drug development. Greater implementation of 3D patient-derived culture systems in the cancer research field should accelerate the development of truly personalized medical therapies for cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Eliza Li Shan
authors.initials: ELS
authors.lastname: Fong
authors.affiliation: 2 Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Tan Boon
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Toh
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.|3 Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, A*STAR, Singapore.|6 Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Hanry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: 2 Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore.|8 Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Edward Kai-Hua
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Chow
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D057285:Precision Medicine / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: 3D; high-content screening; personalized medicine; spheroids; tumor models