Designing Patient-Driven, Tissue-Engineered Models of Primary and Metastatic Breast Cancer.

The rising survival rate for early-stage breast cancer in the United States has created an expanding population of women in remission at risk for distant recurrence, with metastatic spread to the brain demonstrating an especially poor prognosis. The current standard of care for breast cancer brain metastases is not well defined or differentiated from the treatment of brain metastases from other primary sites. Here, we present tissue-engineered models of the primary and brain metastatic breast cancer microenvironments informed by analysis of patient tumor resections.

Assessing multiparametric drug response in tissue engineered tumor microenvironment models.

The tumor microenvironment is important in promoting treatment resistance of tumor cells via multiple mechanisms. However, studying this interaction often proves difficult. In vivo animal models are costly, time-consuming, and often fail to adequately predict human response to treatment.

Quantitative Immunohistochemistry of the Cellular Microenvironment in Patient Glioblastoma Resections.

With the growing interest in the tumor microenvironment, we set out to develop a method to specifically determine the microenvironment components within patient samples of glioblastoma, the deadliest and most invasive brain cancer. Not only are quantitative methods beneficial for accurately describing diseased tissues, they can also potentially contribute to more accurate prognosis, diagnosis, and the development of tissue-engineered systems and replacements. In glioblastoma, glial cells, such as microglia and astrocytes, have been independently correlated with poor prognosis based on pathologist grading.

Quantitative Analysis of the Cellular Microenvironment of Glioblastoma to Develop Predictive Statistical Models of Overall Survival.

Glioblastomas, the most common primary malignant brain tumors, have a distinct tissue microenvironment. Although non-neoplastic cells contribute to glioblastoma progression, very few quantitative studies have shown the effect of tumor microenvironmental influences on patient survival. We examined relationships of the cellular microenvironment, including astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes, and blood vessels, to survival in glioblastoma patients.