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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.03.02.973818

A Microfluidic Platform for Functional Testing of Cancer Drugs on Intact Tumor Slices

Rodriguez, A. D.·Horowitz, L. F.·Castro, K.·Kenerson, H.·Bhattacharjee, N.·Gandhe, G.·Raman, A.·Monnat, R. J.·Yeung, R. S.·Rostomily, R. C.·Folch, A.
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Abstract

Present approaches to assess cancer treatments are often inaccurate, costly, and/or cumbersome. Functional testing platforms that use live tumor cells are a promising tool both for drug development and for identifying the optimal therapy for a given patient, i.e. precision oncology. However, current methods that utilize patient-derived cells from dissociated tissue typically lack the microenvironment of the tumor tissue and/or cannot inform on a timescale rapid enough to guide decisions for patient-specific therapy. We have developed a microfluidic platform that allows for multiplexed drug testing of intact tumor slices cultured on a porous membrane. The device is digitally-manufactured in a biocompatible thermoplastic by laser-cutting and solvent bonding. Here we describe the fabrication process in detail, we characterize the fluidic performance of the device, and demonstrate on-device drug-response testing with tumor slices from xenografts and from a patient colorectal tumor.

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Rodriguez, A. D., Horowitz, L. F., Castro, K., Kenerson, H., Bhattacharjee, N., Gandhe, G., Raman, A., Monnat, R. J., Yeung, R. S., Rostomily, R. C., Folch, A.. 2020-03-03. A Microfluidic Platform for Functional Testing of Cancer Drugs on Intact Tumor Slices. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.02.973818

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