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Review
. 2021 Aug 2:9:701429.
doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.701429. eCollection 2021.

Application of Ovarian Cancer Organoids in Precision Medicine: Key Challenges and Current Opportunities

Jiani Yang  1   2 , Shan Huang  1 , Shanshan Cheng  1 , Yue Jin  1 , Nan Zhang  1 , Yu Wang  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Application of Ovarian Cancer Organoids in Precision Medicine: Key Challenges and Current Opportunities

Jiani Yang et al. Front Cell Dev Biol. .

Abstract

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the leading cause of death among gynecologic malignances. Over the past decades, human-derived models have advanced from monolayer cell cultures to three-dimensional (3D) organoids that could faithfully recapitulate biological characteristics and tumor heterogeneity of primary tissues. As a complement of previous studies based on cell lines or xenografts, organoids provide a 3D platform for mutation-carcinogenesis modeling, high-throughput drug screening, genetic engineering, and biobanking, which might fulfill the gap between basic research and clinical practice. Stepwise, cutting-edge bioengineering techniques of organoid-on-a-chip and 3D bioprinting might converge current challenges and contribute to personalized therapy. We comprehensively reviewed the advantages, challenges, and translational potential of OC organoids. Undeniably, organoids represent an excellent near-physiological platform for OC, paving the way for precision medicine implementation. Future efforts will doubtlessly bring this innovative technique from bench to bedside.

Keywords: organoid; ovarian cancer; precision medicine; preclinical tumor models; three-dimensional platform.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of preclinical cancer models, including immortalized cell lines, PDXs, and organoids.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
General overview for OC organoids. (A) Timeline for patient-derived organoid development until now. (B) The workflow of OC organoid culture development. Formation of organoids was initiated by mechanical and enzymatic digestion of primary tumor tissue, followed by seeding cells into the fundamental ECM and culturing medium with various growth factors for long-term maintenance (Hill et al., 2018; Kopper et al., 2019).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Clinical application of OC organoids from bench to bedside. Patient-derived organoids can be used for cancer modeling, drug screening, biobanking, and organoid-on-a-chip, which aim at maximizing drug efficacy and enabling precision medicine to benefit OC patients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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