van Rijt, A.; Stefanek, E.; Valente, K. Preclinical Testing Techniques: Paving the Way for New Oncology Screening Approaches. Cancers2023, 15, 4466.
van Rijt, A.; Stefanek, E.; Valente, K. Preclinical Testing Techniques: Paving the Way for New Oncology Screening Approaches. Cancers 2023, 15, 4466.
van Rijt, A.; Stefanek, E.; Valente, K. Preclinical Testing Techniques: Paving the Way for New Oncology Screening Approaches. Cancers2023, 15, 4466.
van Rijt, A.; Stefanek, E.; Valente, K. Preclinical Testing Techniques: Paving the Way for New Oncology Screening Approaches. Cancers 2023, 15, 4466.
Abstract
Prior to clinical trials, preclinical testing of oncology drug candidates is performed by evaluating drug candidates with in vitro and in vivo platforms. For in vivo testing, animal models are used to evaluate the toxicity and efficacy of drug candidates. However, animal models often display poor translational results as many drugs that pass preclinical testing fail when tested in humans, with oncology drugs exhibiting especially poor acceptance rates. The FDA Modernization Act 2.0 promotes alternative preclinical testing techniques, presenting the opportunity to use higher complexity in vitro models as an alternative to in vivo testing, including 3D cell culture models. 3D tissue cultures address many of the shortcomings of 2D cultures by more closely replicating the tumour microenvironment through a combination of realistic drug diffusion, paracrine signaling, cellular phenotype, and vascularization that can better mimic native human tissue. This review will discuss the common forms of 3D cell culture, including cell spheroids, organoids, organs-on-a-chip, and 3D bioprinted tissues. Their advantages and limitations will be presented, aiming to discuss the use of these 3D models to accurately represent human tissue and as an alternative to animal testing. The use of 3D culture platforms for preclinical drug development is expected to accelerate as these platforms continue to improve in complexity, reliability, and translational predictivity.
Keywords
preclinical; oncology; 3D culture; organ-on-a-chip; spheroid; organoid; 3D bioprinting; drug screening
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Biology and Biotechnology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
