Key Laboratory of Artificial Organs and Computational Medicine in Zhejiang Province, Institute of Translational Medicine, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou 310015, China
Qian Yang
Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, Hunan, China
Jing Yang
The Third Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325200, China
Fangyan Wang
Key Laboratory of Artificial Organs and Computational Medicine in Zhejiang Province, Institute of Translational Medicine, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou 310015, China
Jiayin Feng
Key Laboratory of Artificial Organs and Computational Medicine in Zhejiang Province, Institute of Translational Medicine, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou 310015, China
Lanjie Lei
Key Laboratory of Artificial Organs and Computational Medicine in Zhejiang Province, Institute of Translational Medicine, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou 310015, China
Minghai Dai
The Third Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325200, China
As a life-threatening chronic disease, cancer is characterized by tumor heterogeneity. This heterogeneity is associated with factors that lead to treatment failure and poor prognosis, including drug resistance, relapse, and metastasis. Therefore, precision medicine urgently needs personalized tumor models that accurately reflect the tumor heterogeneity. Currently, tumor organoid technologies are used to generate in vitro 3D tissues, which have been shown to precisely recapitulate structure, tumor microenvironment, expression profiles, functions, molecular signatures, and genomic alterations in primary tumors. Tumor organoid models are important for identifying potential therapeutic targets, characterizing the effects of anticancer drugs, and exploring novel diagnostic and therapeutic options. In this review, we describe how tumor organoids can be cultured and summarize how researchers can use them as an excellent tool for exploring cancer therapies. In addition, we discuss tumor organoids that have been applied in cancer therapy research and highlight the potential of tumor organoids to guide preclinical research.