3D Tumor Microenvironment Assay for Immunotherapy Prediction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional in vitro assay systems for evaluating anticancer drugs and cancer immunotherapy have low correlation with clinical effects due to the absence of an environment that mimics the in vivo cancer microenvironment, leading to inaccurate drug selection and evaluation.
Innovation Solution
A method for evaluating anticancer effect and predicting cancer immunotherapy effectiveness by culturing a cell structure comprising cancer cells, stromal cells, and immune cells, and measuring the number of living cancer cells post-culture as an indicator, which replicates the in vivo cancer microenvironment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional in vitro assay systems are used to evaluate anticancer drugs, then the evaluation process is simple and fast, but the correlation with clinical effects is low and evaluation accuracy is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simplified copy of the in vivo cancer microenvironment by culturing cancer cells together with immune cells and stromal cells in a three-dimensional structure. This copied microenvironment model enables accurate evaluation of anticancer drugs and immunotherapy without requiring complex animal models, thus improving measurement precision while controlling device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces immune cells and stromal cells as intermediary elements that mediate the interaction between anticancer drugs and cancer cells. These intermediary cells recreate the physiological microenvironment, allowing for more accurate evaluation of drug efficacy while maintaining a relatively simple in vitro assay system
2Reliability
If animal models are used to evaluate cancer immunotherapy, then the evaluation is more reliable, but the success rate of tumor engraftment varies (25-75%) and it takes time to establish PDX
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates an in vitro copy of the human cancer microenvironment by co-culturing human cancer cells with human immune cells and human stromal cells. This humanized three-dimensional cell culture model eliminates the need for time-consuming animal model establishment while maintaining high evaluation reliability through human-specific biological interactions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the complex in vivo microenvironment into its key cellular components (cancer cells, immune cells, and stromal cells) and recreates their interactions in a controlled in vitro setting. This segmentation approach achieves reliable immunotherapy evaluation without requiring the complex whole-organism animal models that have variable engraftment rates
3Reliability
If conventional in vitro systems without immune cells are used, then the assay is simple to perform, but drugs that show good performance in vitro may not exhibit sufficient anticancer effect in living body
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a more accurate copy of the in vivo environment by including immune cells in the co-culture system. This improved copying of the physiological microenvironment enables better prediction of actual drug efficacy while maintaining ease of operation through standardized in vitro culturing procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces immune cells as intermediary elements that mediate the anticancer effect, allowing drugs to be evaluated in a more physiologically relevant context. This intermediary system improves prediction accuracy while keeping the assay operationally simple through established cell culture techniques
Data Source
AI summary
A method for testing an anticancer effect including culturing a cell structure including cancer cells and stromal cells in a presence of an anticancer drug and immune cells, and measuring the number of living cancer cells in the cell structure after the culturing, as an indicator of an anticancer effect of the anticancer drug or the immune cells.