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

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.

Life as an early career researcher: Ruth Bower.

Ruth is currently researching head and neck cancer chemoradiotherapy regimens utilizing microfluidic technology to maintain and interrogate biopsies. Tissue response is investigated using a variety of whole tissue and cellular analytical techniques with a view toward personalized medicine. She is currently pursuing her PhD within the head and neck cancer research group at Hull University (UK).