We develop and validate melanoma patient-derived organoids. It aims to accurately replicate the tumor microenvironment, study immune cell interactions, and assess therapeutic responses, particularly to immunotherapies. We're trying to advance understanding of tumor biology, improve drug development strategies, and potentially enable personalized cancer treatments.
Accurately mimicking the complex tumor microenvironment, including stromal and immune cell interactions, remain difficult. Ensuring that the organoids retain the genetic and the phenotypic diversity of the original tumors is challenging. Developing consistent and scalable protocols for organoids culture and ensuring reproducibility across different samples in the studies is essential.
A lot of times, oncology patients exhibit varied responses to treatments, necessitating diverse treatment strategies. Therefore, having the ability to grow these organoids derived from the patient's tumors enables us to conduct drug screenings which facilitate the development of these personalized treatment plans tailored to each patient.