Abstract 1170A: Organoids: A new tool for the prediction of breast cancer patients' outcome

• Published in: Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) Ill.), 2018-07, Vol.78 (13_Supplement), p.1170-1170A
• Main Authors: Roscigno, Giuseppina, Cirella, Assunta, Affinito, Alessandra, Palma, Francesco, Albero, Maurizio, Messere, Martina, Gelormini, Martina, Cocca, Lorenza, Thomas, Renato, Condorelli, Gerolama
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
• DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.AM2018-1170A

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality among women. The main causes of death are related to recurrence and metastasis. One major limitation in the breast cancer research field is that there are few in vitro models of breast cancer able to predict clinical patients' outcome. The main reason of this failure is that the present models do not take complexity or heterogeneity into account. Therefore, innovative models are now required to better represent tumor fidelity. To address this issue, we developed an in vitro 3D organoid culture system using primary human breast cancer tissue. Organoids are miniature forms of tissues that exhibit three-dimensional architecture and are able to maintain phenotypical properties cultured in a dish. Therefore, they could be used as models for diseases, including cancer. A major difficulty in the development of such models is to identify in vitro conditions that preserve the breast cancer phenotypes observed in vivo. For this reason, we isolated organoids from breast cancer patients and optimized the organoids growing conditions. We used a specialised medium and matrix (Cultrex Trevigen) required for supporting cell growth as it occurs in the human body. Then, we decided to test whether the obtained organoids could be used as an in vitro prediction tool. First, we performed immunofluorescence assay to assess the preservation of patient architecture (CK14, CK18 and E cadherin) and clinical phenotype (HER2, ER, PR). Then, we used an innovative chemotaxis assay in 3D collagen gels for analysing organoids cell invasion. It is based on a chamber in which a chemoattractant gradient is generated by diffusion through a porous membrane for mimicking blood microenvironment. Then we analysed the morphological changes after chemotherapeutics treatment to correlate the organoids response with patient tumor behaviour. Thus, organoids can be considered as a new tool for studying breast cancer and developing personalized medicine approaches for this disease. Citation Format: Giuseppina Roscigno, Assunta Cirella, Alessandra Affinito, Francesco Palma, Maurizio Albero, Martina Messere, Martina Gelormini, Lorenza Cocca, Renato Thomas, Gerolama Condorelli. Organoids: A new tool for the prediction of breast cancer patients' outcome [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 117