Maintenance of head and neck tumor on-chip: gateway to personalized treatment?

ABSTRACT:

Aim

Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) are solid tumors with low overall survival (40-60%). In a move toward personalized medicine, maintenance of tumor biopsies in microfluidic tissue culture devices is being developed.

Methodology/results

HNSCC (n = 15) was dissected (5-10 mg) and either analyzed immediately or cultured in a microfluidic device (37°C) for 48 h. No difference was observed in morphology between pre- and postculture specimens. Dissociated samples were analyzed using trypan blue exclusion (viability), propidium iodide flow cytometry (death) and MTS assay (proliferation) with no significant difference observed highlighting tissue maintenance. Computational fluid dynamics showed laminar flow within the system.

Conclusion

The microfluidic cultu

SUBMITTER: Bower R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5481812 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature