Wellcome Sanger Institute

Organoids are a long-term culture system which allow cells to be grown in specialised 3D culture conditions that maintain the stem cell population as well as much of the cell/tissue architecture found in vivo. Cancer organoid models have been shown to recapitulate features of the original tissue/tumour and can model clinically relevant drug responses. Through generating large numbers of molecularly characterised organoid models, and performing drug sensitivity screens, we aim to identify new cancer treatments.

As part of the HCMI, the Sanger Institute has joined forces with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) to derive hundreds of organoid cell models from colon, oesophageal, pancreatic, lung, breast and ovarian cancers. These models are being generated from patient samples taken at the time of biopsy or surgical resection and are being mae availabel through the third-party repository ATCC.

The models derived at the Sanger Institute will be highly annotated, including a complete sample history and key pieces of patient clinical information. The original tumour as well as the matched organoid culture will also be genomically characterised and drug screens performed. These new cell models and associated datasets be shared with the research community to further research in cancer and other diseases. Genomic datasets as well as model and sample information can be found through the following resources Cell Model Passports Database, HCMI and GDC