Over the past few years, oncology research and development of drugs and therapies have moved from two-dimensional models to more complex three-dimensional systems. In this specific case we are talking about organoids, used to “reproduce the complexity of human organs in the laboratory, making them grow without the contribution of the rest of the organism”. This is the definition outlined byAircwho points out: “These are not identical copies of the organs, but simplified and smaller-scale versions.”
The Airc Foundation itself, in its podcast “Research on the sofa”, dedicated a focus to organoids, delving into these cellular tools useful for simulating the conditions of some tissues, whether healthy or diseased. In particular, those derived from patients for oncology research, defined as tumoroids, are generated from biopsies, the diagnostic tests that determine the benign or malignant nature of a neoplastic formation.
Organoids can be used as models to better understand different pharmacological responses. By faithfully reproducing the human biological environment, these miniature replicas of human organs and tissues maintain the molecular characteristics of the original tumor and constitute a predictive tool for pharmacological research.
Avatars in pediatric research
In collaboration with the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome, the 3D model developed by the University of Trento, which is also the most advanced so far, can be used to test new drugs. “It’s like studying in an avatar of the tumor what happens in vivo with all the benefits of being able to verify the effectiveness of therapies without having to do it directly on sick boys and girls.” Words by Luca Tiberi, professor of the Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrated Biology of the University of Trento and coordinator of the researchvisible in the scientific journal Nature Protocols.
“Biopsy-derived tumoroids retain the phenotypic and structural complexity of the disease, which is lost in 2D cultures, and maintain greater cellular heterogeneity compared to organoids obtained from stem cells,” continues Tiberi. “In the organoid we can test different combinations of drugs and expand the screening.” For its part, the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, which follows young patients, provided the biological samples, also participating in the characterization of the organoids.
Osteosarcoma in children
More common among girls, boys and adolescents, osteosarcoma is a malignant bone tumor that is still difficult to treat. As highlighted by the Veronesi Foundation, it can affect any bone segment, although almost all cases concern the long bones: humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia and fibula. In eight out of ten cases, the disease has a high degree of malignancy, due to the rapidity of replication of the neoplastic cells, and can also cause metastasisthe latter present in the initial phase in 15 percent of cases.
However, we must not overlook an important aspect: the available therapies, which are not effective enough, have remained unchanged in recent years. Among the main impediments is the absence of experimental study systems with which to faithfully reproduce the complex interaction between tumor cells and their microenvironment. And it is precisely this limit that the “Fabit” project, the Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology of the Alma Mater at the University of Bologna, aims to overcome, through a three-dimensional avatar of the tumor.
The project intends to recreate the tumor in the laboratory in a much more realistic form than in the past, observing how it develops and how it responds to drugs within an environment similar to what happens in the body. The ultimate goal is to develop a predictive experimental system, aimed at better understanding the mechanisms of osteosarcoma, but also at evaluating new drugs and new therapeutic strategies. Selecting the most promising ones to open the doors to future precision medicine approaches.
Childhood cancers and treatments
A multimedia guide to answer a series of questions: from “what are the most frequent tumors in childhood?” to “what are the causes and risk factors?”. But also: “What will life be like after cancer?”. It’s about the handbook “At school of health”special issue of the online magazine of the Institute for the health of “Bambino Gesù” in Rome. Here the experts from the Holy See Children’s Hospital have summarized information on the most frequent oncohaematological pathologies in children and adolescents. But also in relation to treatment paths, the meaning of some diagnostic tests and the essential preparation to carry them out.
Childhood cancers include over 50 rare pathologies, each with specific biological and clinical characteristics. It is important to remember that every year in Italy over 2,200 children and young people between the ages of 0 and 19 get cancer. These are certainly dramatic numbers, but they reveal progress: currently five-year survival exceeds 80 percent. An achievement that was unthinkable just a few decades ago, but there is still so much to do.
The results of research are equally comforting conducted in 68 European countries by the “Concord-4” team in England, which reveal: the WHO goal for 2030, i.e. a 5-year survival rate of 60 percent for all pediatric cancers, is already achieved or exceeded by the majority of nations. The results of the study, published in the scientific journal The Lancetsuggest that the World Health Organization target could be set at a higher level.