In vitro 3D cancer spheroids (tumoroids) exhibit a drug resistance profile similar to that found in solid tumors. 3D spheroid culture methods recreate more physiologically relevant microenvironments for cells. Therefo...In vitro 3D cancer spheroids (tumoroids) exhibit a drug resistance profile similar to that found in solid tumors. 3D spheroid culture methods recreate more physiologically relevant microenvironments for cells. Therefore, these models are more appropriate for cancer drug screening. We have recently developed a protocol for MCF-7 cell spheroid culture, and used this method to test the effects of different types of drugs on this estrogen-dependent breast cancer cell spheroid. Our results demonstrated that MCF-7 cells can grow spheroid in medium using a low attachment plate. We managed to grow one spheroid in each well, and the spheroid can grow over a month, the size of the spheroid can grow over a hundred times in volume. Our targeted drug experimental results suggest that estrogen sulfotransferase, steroid sulfatase, and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor may play critical roles in MCF-7 cell spheroid growth, while estrogen receptors α and β may not play an essential role in MCF-7 spheroid growth. Organoids are the miniatures of in vivo tissues and reiterate the in vivo microenvironment of a specific organ, best fit for the in vitro studies of diseases and drug development. Tumoroid, developed from cancer cell lines or patients’ tumor tissue, is the best in vitro model of in vivo tumors. 3D spheroid technology will be the best future method for drug development of cancers and other diseases. Our reported method can be developed clinically to develop personalized drugs when the patient’s tumor tissues are used to develop a spheroid culture for drug screening.展开更多
Cancer drug development is a time and resources consuming process.Around 90%of drugs entering clinical trials fail due to lack of efficacy and/or safety issues,more often after conspicuous research and economic effort...Cancer drug development is a time and resources consuming process.Around 90%of drugs entering clinical trials fail due to lack of efficacy and/or safety issues,more often after conspicuous research and economic efforts.Part of the discarded drugs might be beneficial only in a subgroup of the study patients,and some adverse events might be prevented by identifying those patients more vulnerable to toxicities.The implementation of pharmacogenomic biomarkers allows the categorization of patients,to predict efficacy and toxicity and to optimize the drug development process.Around seventy FDA approved drugs currently present one or more genetic biomarker to keep in consideration,and with the progress of Precision Medicine tailoring therapies on individuals’genomic landscape promises to become a new standard of cancer care.In the current article we review the role of pharmacogenomics in cancer drug development,underlying the advantages and challenges of their implementation.展开更多
Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) has been recognized as an important cancer drug target. Many recent studies have provided convincing evidences of strong correlation between elevated levels of HIF-1 and tumor metast...Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) has been recognized as an important cancer drug target. Many recent studies have provided convincing evidences of strong correlation between elevated levels of HIF-1 and tumor metastasis, angiogenesis, poor patient prognosis as well as tumor resistance therapy. It was found that hypoxia (low O<sub>2</sub> levels) is a common character in many types of solid tumors. As an adaptive response to hypoxic stress, hypoxic tumor cells activate several survival pathways to carry out their essential biological processes in different ways compared with normal cells. Recent advances in cancer biology at the cellular and molecular levels highlighted the HIF-1α pathway as a crucial survival pathway for which novel strategies of cancer therapy could be developed. However, targeting the HIF-1α pathway has been a challenging but promising progresses have been made in the past twenty years. This review summarizes the role and regulation of the HIF-1α in cancer, and recent therapeutic approaches targeting this important pathway.展开更多
文摘In vitro 3D cancer spheroids (tumoroids) exhibit a drug resistance profile similar to that found in solid tumors. 3D spheroid culture methods recreate more physiologically relevant microenvironments for cells. Therefore, these models are more appropriate for cancer drug screening. We have recently developed a protocol for MCF-7 cell spheroid culture, and used this method to test the effects of different types of drugs on this estrogen-dependent breast cancer cell spheroid. Our results demonstrated that MCF-7 cells can grow spheroid in medium using a low attachment plate. We managed to grow one spheroid in each well, and the spheroid can grow over a month, the size of the spheroid can grow over a hundred times in volume. Our targeted drug experimental results suggest that estrogen sulfotransferase, steroid sulfatase, and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor may play critical roles in MCF-7 cell spheroid growth, while estrogen receptors α and β may not play an essential role in MCF-7 spheroid growth. Organoids are the miniatures of in vivo tissues and reiterate the in vivo microenvironment of a specific organ, best fit for the in vitro studies of diseases and drug development. Tumoroid, developed from cancer cell lines or patients’ tumor tissue, is the best in vitro model of in vivo tumors. 3D spheroid technology will be the best future method for drug development of cancers and other diseases. Our reported method can be developed clinically to develop personalized drugs when the patient’s tumor tissues are used to develop a spheroid culture for drug screening.
文摘Cancer drug development is a time and resources consuming process.Around 90%of drugs entering clinical trials fail due to lack of efficacy and/or safety issues,more often after conspicuous research and economic efforts.Part of the discarded drugs might be beneficial only in a subgroup of the study patients,and some adverse events might be prevented by identifying those patients more vulnerable to toxicities.The implementation of pharmacogenomic biomarkers allows the categorization of patients,to predict efficacy and toxicity and to optimize the drug development process.Around seventy FDA approved drugs currently present one or more genetic biomarker to keep in consideration,and with the progress of Precision Medicine tailoring therapies on individuals’genomic landscape promises to become a new standard of cancer care.In the current article we review the role of pharmacogenomics in cancer drug development,underlying the advantages and challenges of their implementation.
基金partially supported by the NIH grant 1R01CA148706funds from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Pharmacy
文摘Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) has been recognized as an important cancer drug target. Many recent studies have provided convincing evidences of strong correlation between elevated levels of HIF-1 and tumor metastasis, angiogenesis, poor patient prognosis as well as tumor resistance therapy. It was found that hypoxia (low O<sub>2</sub> levels) is a common character in many types of solid tumors. As an adaptive response to hypoxic stress, hypoxic tumor cells activate several survival pathways to carry out their essential biological processes in different ways compared with normal cells. Recent advances in cancer biology at the cellular and molecular levels highlighted the HIF-1α pathway as a crucial survival pathway for which novel strategies of cancer therapy could be developed. However, targeting the HIF-1α pathway has been a challenging but promising progresses have been made in the past twenty years. This review summarizes the role and regulation of the HIF-1α in cancer, and recent therapeutic approaches targeting this important pathway.
