Researchers led by MIT’s Koch Institute and partner institutions have created nearly 700 new cancer models from patient tumor samples. The models cover 25 cancer types and are being made available to researchers worldwide to support drug discovery and cancer research.
The project brings together researchers from MIT’s Koch Institute, the Broad Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the National Cancer Institute, along with scientists from more than two dozen institutions. The work is part of the Human Cancer Models Initiative, a 10-year effort supported mainly by the National Cancer Institute and the Wellcome Trust.
The models are designed to solve a major problem in cancer research. Many older laboratory cancer cell lines do not fully represent the wide range of genetic changes found in real tumors, making it harder to test whether a potential drug target works across different patients.
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Most of the new models are organoids. These are three-dimensional groups of cells grown in the laboratory that can preserve many of the genetic and molecular features of the tumors they came from.
The researchers collected more than 2,700 tumor samples from hospitals in the United States, United Kingdom and Netherlands. About one-third of those samples were successfully developed into long-lasting laboratory models, with most becoming organoids.
Creating a model can take up to one year. After growing the cells, researchers compared their DNA, RNA activity and other molecular features with the original tumors to check how closely the models matched the patient samples.
The collection includes common cancers such as lung, liver and pancreatic cancer. It also includes about 150 rare cancer types, including tumors affecting the gallbladder and small intestine.
The models have been deposited with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), a nonprofit organization that distributes biological research materials. Researchers can also access information linked to the original samples, including genetic changes and details about previous cancer treatments.
Scientists are already using the models to search for cancer weaknesses that could become drug targets. In related Nature research, teams used genome sequencing, RNA sequencing and CRISPR-based tests to study hundreds of the models, with findings added to the Cancer Dependency Map, or DepMap.
The models are not perfect replacements for human tumors. Only about one-third of the collected samples could be converted into usable models, and organoids grown in the lab cannot reproduce every part of a tumor, such as its full interaction with the immune system and surrounding tissues.
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The project matters because cancer can vary greatly from one patient to another. A larger collection of patient-derived models gives researchers more ways to test treatments across different genetic backgrounds and rare cancers before potential therapies move into clinical testing.
