Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) and NewYork-Presbyterian researchers have created patient-specific bladder cancer organoids that mimic many of the characteristics of actual tumors. The use of organoids, tiny 3-D spheres derived from a patient’s own tumor, may be useful in the future to guide treatment of patients.

Shen, who is also a member of NewYork-Presbyterian/CUIMC’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, began developing bladder cancer organoids about four years ago. A major challenge in creating any type of organoid is determining the unique mixture of nutrients, growth factors, and tissue culture techniques that will transform patient tumor cells into miniature tumor organoids in a petri dish. The exact conditions can vary greatly from one type of cancer to another.

In the current study, organoids were made from the tumor cells of 22 patients with invasive bladder cancer.