A recent study published in the journal Oncotarget introduces a novel approach to drug screening for pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center developed a real-time live tissue sensitivity assay (RT-LTSA) using fresh tumor samples. This assay aims to overcome the limitations of patient-derived organoids (PDOs) and xenografts (PDXs), which have been commonly used but have drawbacks such as long establishment time, high engraftment failure rates, and differences in the tumor microenvironment compared to the original tumors.
The researchers placed tissue slices from resected pancreatic cancer samples into 96-well plates and treated them with chemotherapeutic agents. They found a correlation between the chemosensitivity of the tissue slices and each patient’s clinical outcome. The viability and tumor microenvironment of the tissue slices were well preserved over five days, and the drug sensitivity assay results were available within that timeframe.
The study observed that patients who received adjuvant regimens identified as sensitive by the RT-LTSA did not develop recurrence, whereas seven out of eight patients who received resistant regimens experienced recurrence. Furthermore, the patients who received sensitive regimens had significantly improved disease-free survival compared to those who received resistant regimens.
The researchers concluded that the RT-LTSA, which maintains the tumor microenvironment and architecture as found in patients, could serve as a personalized strategy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma. However, further studies are needed to validate these findings.
This innovative approach has the potential to provide valuable insights into predicting patients’ responses to chemotherapy and improving treatment outcomes for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Source:
Dae Won Kim et al, Real time ex vivo chemosensitivity assay for pancreatic adenocarcinoma, Oncotarget (2023). DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.28508
