“It is an exciting time for cancer research,” said Luiz Bertassoni, from the Knight Cancer Institute, regarding the new tools to study the earliest stages of this disease.
MADRID, Nov 28. (EUROPA PRESS).- Cutting-edge technologies could transform the way in which cancer is studied, detected and treated. cancerby detecting it earlier, when it is more treatable and survival rates are higher, according to a new review by researchers at the Knight Oncological Institute of the Oregon Health and Science University (USA) and other universities.
The new revision is published in Nature Reviews Bioengineering and highlights how advances in New Approach Methodologies and tissue engineering offer powerful new tools to study the earliest stages of cancer development. Specifically, New Approach Methodologies use technologies relevant to humans, such as in vitro tests, organoides, organs on chip y computational modelingto replace, reduce or refine animal experimentation.
Tissue engineering opens new avenues of research
These lab-grown models replicate the environment inside the human body and could reveal clues about how cancer originates.
Nearly a decade after Dr. Luiz Bertassoni and his team at Knight Cancer Institute gained national recognition for developing a revolutionary method for 3D printing blood vessels, Bertassoni is now leveraging his previous work to study complex cancers in ways that traditional laboratory models do not allow. Currently leading a new chip-based system that more accurately mimics the environment of human bone tumors, Bertassoni and a multidisciplinary team are using advanced bioengineering to create more realistic in vitro models—a key step in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) transition from animal testing to cell-based systems.
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“Early detection is one of the most important factors to survive cancer,” says Dr. Luiz Bertassoni, lead author of the study. “These new technologies allow us to understand how cancer forms and progresses, opening the door to understanding cancer in its early stages, paving the way for earlier diagnosis and even predicting its onset.”
Despite years of cancer research, scientists know relatively little about what happens in the body during the early stages of the disease. One of the main reasons is the lack of access to tumor samples in early stages, especially in hard-to-reach organs. Patients usually come to the clinic when they already have symptoms, and by then it is often too late. Without samples of early-stage cancer, it is difficult to understand the changes that occur as healthy tissue becomes cancerous.
“It’s an exciting time for cancer research”
Tissue engineering is helping to overcome this gap. Recent technologies developed in the last decade, including many designed at OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute, have allowed scientists to reproduce the complexity of cancer in the laboratory. These models, which have recently been prioritized as New Approach Methodologies for medical research, allow researchers to precisely recreate and manipulate the early tumor environment, allowing them to test how specific cellular, genetic or environmental factors influence cancer development. This approach also facilitates the discovery of new biomarkers: biological warning signs that could help doctors detect cancer earlier and more accurately.
“We are living in a really exciting time in cancer research,” concludes Bertassoni. “There is a great push to bring together cancer biology, engineering and clinical treatment. Many avenues are opening up that did not exist before.”