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Tissue-engineered 3D models for elucidating primary and metastatic bone cancer progression

González Díaz EC, Sinha S, Avedian RS, Yang F

Acta biomaterialia, 2019

Abstract

Malignant bone tumors are aggressive neoplasms which arise from bone tissue or as a result of metastasis. The most prevalent types of cancer, such as breast, prostate, and lung cancer, all preferentially metastasize to bone, yet the role of the bone niche in promoting cancer progression remains poorly understood. Tissue engineering has the potential to bridge this knowledge gap by providing 3D in vitro systems that can be specifically designed to mimic key properties of the bone niche in a more physiologically relevant context than standard 2D culture. Elucidating the crucial components of the bone niche that recruit metastatic cells, support tumor growth, and promote cancer-induced destruction of bone tissue would support efforts for preventing and treating these devastating malignancies. In this review, we summarize recent efforts focused on developing in vitro 3D models of primary bone cancer and bone metastasis using tissue engineering approaches. Such 3D in vitro models can enable the identification of effective therapeutic targets and facilitate high-throughput drug screening to effectively treat bone cancers. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Biomaterials-based 3D culture have been traditionally used for tissue regeneration. Recent research harnessed biomaterials to create 3D in vitro cancer models, with demonstrated advantages over conventional 2D culture in recapitulating tumor progression and drug response in vivo. However, previous work has been largely limited to…

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