A new study adds to a growing body of evidence that organoids — lab-grown collections of cells that mimic a patient’s tumor — are a promising avenue for drug discovery to improve outcomes in patients with cancer, particularly rare cancers for which clinical data on drug effectiveness is often lacking.
Organoids are grown in a lab using a patient’s own tissue cells collected during surgery. These “mini tumors” are simpler, smaller versions of bodily organs or tumors that replicate the full-function structures. Scientists in the laboratory of Dr. Alice Soragni at UCLA have pioneered their growth and use to study diseases and possible treatments.
