“We are currently exploring whether other established anti-cancer drugs have the same effects in the system as they do in patients,” said Skardal. “If this link can be validated and expanded, we believe the system can be used to screen drug candidates for patients as a tool in personalized medicine. If we can create the same model systems, only with tumor cells from an actual patient, then we believe we can use this platform to determine the best therapy for any individual patient.”

The system also gives scientists the opportunity to study the microenvironment, or environment in which the tumor exists. This is a relatively new focus of cancer research. For example, the scientists learned that a “stiffer” tumor was more apt to metastasize, suggesting the possibility of using drugs to alter the mechanical properties of a tumor to reduce its likelihood of spreading.


The system has the potential to address some of the shortcomings of current research methods. For example, the results from traditional 2D studies in laboratory dishes as well as studies in animals often are not applicable to human patients. Often, seemingly promising drug candidates may fail when they reach studies in humans.

The scientists are currently working to refine their system. They plan to use 3D printing to create organoids more similar in function to natural organs. And they aim to make the process of metastasis more realistic. When cancer spreads in the human body, the tumor cells must break through blood vessels to enter the blood steam and reach other organs. The scientists plan to add a barrier of endothelial cells, the cells that line blood vessels, to the model.

“We are trying to make it as realistic as we can,” said Skardal.

This concept of modeling the body’s processes on a miniature level is made possible because of advances in micro-tissue engineering and micro-fluidics technologies. It is similar to advances in the electronics industry made possible by miniaturizing electronics on a chip.

The research was supported by the Golfers Against Cancer, the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest Baptist, and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine Promoting Discoveries Award.

“Aleks Skardal, Ph.D., lead author, has filed a patent application using the metastasis-on-a-chip for modeling cancer metastasis in the lab.”

Co-authors are: Mahesh Devarasetty, B.S., Steven Forsythe, B.S., Anthony Atala, M.D., and Shay Soker, Ph.D., of Wake Forest Baptist.

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