Patient-Derived Organoids: A Game-Changer in Personalized Cancer Medicine

Research on cancer therapies has benefited from predictive tools capable of simulating treatment response and other disease characteristics in a personalized manner, in particular three-dimensional cell culture models. Such models include tumor-derived spheroids, multicellular spheroids including organotypic multicellular spheroids, and tumor-derived organoids. Additionally, organoids can be grown from various cancer cell types, such as pluripotent stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, progenitor cells, and adult stem cells. Although patient-derived xenografts and genetically engineered mouse models replicate human disease in vivo, organoids are less expensive, less labor intensive, and less time-consuming, all-important aspects in high-throughput settings. Like in vivo models, organoids mimic the three-dimensional structure, cellular heterogeneity, and functions of primary tissues, with the advantage of representing the normal oxygen conditions of patient organs. In this review, we summarize the use of organoids in disease modeling, drug discovery, toxicity testing, and precision oncology. We also summarize the current clinical trials using organoids.