A Patient-Derived Tumor-Environment Model Holds Promise for Neuroblastoma Research

Study in a Sentence: Researchers embedded patient-derived neuroblastoma tumor cells within a bioprinted setting that mimics the tumor-surrounding environment, which can be used for studying how blood vessels and other tissues play a role in cancer growth and treatment resistance.

Healthy for Humans: Neuroblastoma is a type of cancer that develops in early nerve cells usually in childhood. Even with chemo- and radiotherapy, it has a poor prognosis, which may be improved by precision medicine approaches that tailor treatments to individual patients.

Redefining Research: This neuroblastoma tumor-environment model combines 3D bioprinting with innovative tumor-on-a-chip technology, contributing to the replacement of animal-based cancer research methods and enabling faster drug discovery. In addition, researchers can incorporate cancer cells directly from patients into the model to investigate specific structural and functional characteristics of individual cancer subtypes and to reveal individualized responses to treatments.