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 The scientists extract "a chunk" of the tumour from the brain of a
patient with glioblastoma - an aggressive cancer with a very poor
prognosis - and use it to print a model matching their MRI scans,
said Professor Ronit Satchi-Fainaro, who led the research at Tel
Aviv University.
The patient's blood is then pumped through the printed tumour, made
with a compound that mimics the brain, followed by a drug or
therapeutic treatment.
While previous research has used such "bioprinting" to simulate
cancer environments, the Tel Aviv University researchers say they
are the first to print a "viable" tumour.
"We have about two weeks (to) test all the different therapies that
we would like to evaluate (on) that specific tumour, and get back
with an answer - which treatment is predicted to be the best fit,"
Satchi-Fainaro said.
A treatment is deemed promising if the printed tumour shrinks or if
it lowers metabolic activity against control groups.
The research was published on Wednesday in the journal Science
Advances.
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 Glioblastoma is the most common
form of brain cancer in adults. It spreads
quickly to other parts of the brain, making it
difficult to treat. Survival is around 40% in
the first year after diagnosis and 17% in the
second, according to the American Association of
Neurological Surgeons.
Researchers have often 3D printed tumour models to plan for surgery,
but more recent innovations have focused on bioprinting, which uses
live cells as a sort of ink to build up the layers.
Ofra Benny, who leads similar research at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, said the use of a patient's own cells to develop 3D
tumour models could be "a game changer in the field of personalised
medicine".
"The more physiological mimicry you create, the better prediction
you get in terms of how drug treatments will work on the actual
tumour in the patient's body," she said.
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub, Rami Amichay and Rinat Harash; Editing by
Alison Williams)
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