A UW-based lab team creates a 3D model helping study of tumours

It’s something very rare in Canada.

“Maybe just a couple of labs are doing something even close to this research,” said Nafiseh Moghimi, an applied mathematics post-doctoral researcher and the lead author of the study.

For decades, biologists would conduct a biopsy on a patient’s tumour, extract cells, and then replicate them in petri dishes in the lab. However, after repeated failures, scientists realized that a 2D model cannot capture the structure of a real tumour. The old method led to ineffective treatment plans and poor outcomes.

An international team of researchers based out of the University of Waterloo have combined bioprinting techniques with synthetic structures to create a new, rare, 3D model that will help lab researchers understand tumours with more than one kind of cancer cell (a.k.a. heterogeneous tumours.)

Using tiny structures etched with channels that mimic blood flow and other fluids surrounding a patient’s tumour, customized bioink, and a device that resembles a 3D printer, the new method not only reflects the complexity of a tumour, but also simulates its surrounding environment.

Scientists can now use their model as a tool to test different modes of treatment, like various chemotherapy drugs.

The team is particularly interested in creating complex models of breast cancer, as it is the most common cancer diagnosed in women after skin cancer.

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