Researchers from the University of Tampere (Finland) and the Izmir Institute of Technology (Turkey) have developed an in vitro cancer model to investigate why breast cancer spreads to the bones. Their findings hold promise for advancing the development of preclinical tools to predict breast cancer bone metastasis.
Breast cancer is a major global public health challenge, with 2.3 million new cases and 700,000 deaths each year. Approximately 80% of patients with primary breast cancer can be cured if diagnosed and treated early. However, in many cases, the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body or metastasized by the time it is diagnosed.
Metastatic cancer is incurable and accounts for more than 90% of cancer-related deaths. Currently, there are no reliable in vitro models to study how breast cancer spreads to secondary organs such as bone, lung, liver or brain. Now, researchers from the Precision Nanomaterials Group at Tampere University and the Laboratory of Molecular Cancer Biology at the Izmir Institute of Technology have used lab-on-a-chip platforms to create a physiologically relevant metastasis model to study the factors that control bone metastasis of breast cancer.
“Breast cancer most often spreads to the bones, with an estimated rate of 53%, resulting in severe symptoms such as pain, pathological bone fractures and spinal cord compressions. Our research provides a laboratory model that estimates the “probability and mechanism of bone metastases occurring within a living organism, this advances the understanding of the molecular mechanisms in breast cancer bone metastasis and provides the basis for developing preclinical tools to predict the risk of bone metastasis.” says Burcu Firatligil-Yildirir, a postdoctoral researcher at Tampere University and first author of the paper. .
According to Nonappa, associate professor and leader of the Precision Nanomaterials Group at Tampere University, developing sustainable in vitro models that mimic the complexity of the native breast and bone microenvironment is a multidisciplinary challenge.
“Our work shows that physiologically relevant in vitro models can be generated by combining cancer biology, microfluidics and soft materials. The results open new possibilities for developing disease predictive models, diagnosis and treatment,” he says.
The Precision Nanomaterials Group at Tampere University develops various diagnostic and disease models of cancer metastasis in vitro.