Organoids as clinically relevant models to tailor precision medicine in cancer treatment

Guest Editors: Sabrina Arena¹, Giovanni Blandino², Alice Castelli³, Cyril Corbet⁴

1- Associate Professor, University of Turin and Group Leader, Candiolo Cancer Institute, Turin, Italy
2- Head of Translational Oncology Research Unit, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy
3- Managing Editor, Journal of  Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy
4- Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique, Pole of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium

The expanding field of precision medicine in oncology requires an accurate profiling of tumors to identify effectively targetable alterations and to translate preclinical discoveries into clinical benefit for cancer patients. This approach has led to the replacement of the one-size-fits-all therapies by more effective and individualized treatments. This goal has been recently achieved not only thanks to the use of powerful sequencing technologies for tumor molecular profiling, but also thanks to the development of novel preclinical models more closely resembling patients ‘tumors. Organoids are self-assembling, organ-like, three-dimensional cellular structures that thoroughly retain in vitro key characteristics of the respective tissue of origin. Organoids can be obtained both from normal or tumor tissue, allowing the wide and potentially infinite expansion of material for research and preclinical studies that have already shown a significant impact in the clinical arena. Cancer organoid platforms have provided valuable tools to test next-generation drugs and novel therapeutic strategies to foster personalized medical decisions and to potentially improve treatment outcomes starting from real “patient avatars”.

With this special collection we aim at presenting the latest highlights and state-of-art applications involving the use of organoids to improve therapeutic strategies and to tailor a more personalized approach in cancer treatment.

Keywords: Organoids, Oncology, Cancer, Chemotherapy, Targeted therapy, precision medicine, preclinical models.