Scientists unveil more than 600 new tissue models of human cancer

An international team led by MIT's Koch Institute has developed more than six hundred new cancer tissue models derived from patient tumors, per MIT News, with findings published in Nature. The models represent twenty-five cancer types—from common ones like lung and liver to roughly one hundred fifty rare varieties. These three-dimensional organoid cultures can survive indefinitely and mimic their source tumors' genetic traits, and are now available to researchers worldwide. The ten-year, National Cancer Institute-funded initiative aimed to provide experimental systems to validate cancer drug targets and launch drug discovery. Researchers have already profiled over three hundred models with genetic sequencing and CRISPR screening to identify drug-targetable vulnerabilities, and additional models—including rarer types and pediatric cancers—are planned for future development.

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