Miniature "bone marrow in a petri dish" improves anti-cancer treatment

Scientists from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham have created the first bone marrow "organoids," which capture the main features
of human bone marrow.
The technology, which is the subject of a patent application filed by the University of Birmingham Enterprise, will allow for the simultaneous screening of multiple cancer drugs, as well as the testing of personalised treatments
for individual cancer patients.

A study published in the journal Cancer Discovery describes the new approach, which produces organoids
that faithfully mimic the cellular, molecular and structural features of bone marrow (blood cells that produce).

The study also showed that organoids provide a microenvironment that can receive and support cell survival in patients with hematologic malignancies, including multiple myeloma cells, which are notoriously difficult to maintain
outside the body.

Dr Abdullah Khan, a Sir Henry Wellcomb researcher at the University of Birmingham's Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, who was first author of the study, said: "Remarkably, we found that the cells in their bone marrow organoids are similar to real bone marrow cells, not only in terms of activity and function, but also in terms of structural relationships – cell types 'self-organise' in organoids and arrange themselves, just as they do in bone marrow in the human body
.
"

This lifelike structure allowed the team to study how cells in the bone marrow interact to support the production of normal blood cells, and how this is disturbed in myelofibrosis (myelofibrosis), where scar tissue accumulates, leading to bone marrow failure
.
Myelofibrosis can occur in people with certain types of blood cancer and remains incurable
.

Senior study author Professor Bessen Sesella, a haematologist at Radcliffe Medical School at the University of Oxford and leader of the research team, said: "To properly understand how and why blood cancers develop, we need to use experimental systems that are very similar to how real human bone marrow works, which we have never really had before
.
" It's really exciting to have this amazing system now, because we're finally able to use a patient's cells directly to study cancer, rather than relying on animal models or other simpler systems that don't properly show us how cancer develops
in the bone marrow of an actual patient.
" ”

Dr Khan also added: "This is a huge step forward, allowing us to gain insight into the growth patterns of cancer cells and potentially enable more personalized treatments
.
" We now have a platform to test drugs
on the basis of "personalized medicine.
"

"Developing and validating this model is a critical first step, and in our ongoing collaborative work, we will work with others to better understand how bone marrow works in healthy people and what goes wrong
when they have a blood disorder.
"

Dr.
Psaila added: "We hope that this new technology will help accelerate the discovery and testing of new blood cancer treatments, allowing improved drugs to enter clinical trials
sooner.
"