Researchers from the Organoid group (Hubrecht Institute) and UMC Utrecht have developed a biobank with organoids derived from patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). They used this biobank to validate known HNC biomarkers and found that treatment responses in the organoids matched those seen in patients.
The results of the study were published in Med on 12 May 2023 and could aid treatment decisions and discovery of novel therapies for HCN patients in the future.
Head and neck cancer (HNC) is an overarching term used for several types of cancer, including the most common form called head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). HNC patients can be treated with a combination of surgery, radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. Nevertheless, treatment is not always effective.
Rosemary Millen, shared first author of the paper, explains: “These treatments cause serious side-effects and some patients are therefore unable to finish the treatment. And even after going through such a harsh treatment, 60 percent of patients relapse.” The limited efficacy of treatments might be explained in part by the fact that the genetic makeup of the tumor differs strongly between patients.
As a result, the most suitable therapy is different for each patient. “Clinicians currently have limited tools to properly distinguish this. There is therefore an urgent need for better biomarkers: indicators that we can measure in each individual patient in order to determine from which treatment they would benefit most. Ideally, such a personalized approach would prevent you from unnecessarily burdening patients with treatments that might not work, and lead to a better prognosis,” explains Else Driehuis, corresponding author of the paper.
The Hubrecht Institute - KNAW performs world-leading research in the field of developmental biology and stem cells. The research groups conduct fundamental, multidisciplinary research on healthy and diseased cells, tissues and organisms.
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