London ARC: Dr Adrian Biddle
London Animal Replacement Centre of Excellence (ARC)
Understanding the Spread of Cancer
Dr Adrian Biddle
Queen Mary University of London
At our Animal Replacement Centre of Excellence based at Queen Mary University of London, Professor Mike Philpott and Dr Adrian Biddle are developing reliable animal-free methods to understand how cancer cells spread and invade other parts of the human body (known as metastasis).
Animals to be replaced:
Mice
London Animal Replacement Centre of Excellence (ARC)
Queen Mary University of London
The London ARC builds upon a long-standing successful partnership with the Blizard Institute, a pioneering purpose-built institution with cutting-edge research facilities. Researchers based here are leading the way in the development of animal-free research models.
Set up with a £1 million investment from Animal Free Research UK in 2016, teams led by Professor Mike Philpott and Dr Adrian Biddle have shown that human-specific models to study human diseases are the way forward.
Since its establishment, research at the ARC has focussed on several main areas including the development of 3D cancer cells models to study metastasis (spread to other parts of the body) of human skin and oral cancers. These models are designed to replace experiments that often use hundreds or thousands of mice, which due to the important biological, anatomical and genetic differences between animals and humans, often don’t translate into benefit for patients.
By championing innovative techniques such as 3D human cell culture and organ-on-chip systems, these models can be combined with computer-based technology including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to recognise and predict from patient biopsies which tumours are most likely to spread.
Work at the ARC combines expertise in animal-free methods and innovative technologies, bringing us closer to understanding metastasis with clear benefits for patients, while the institute provides a unique environment for scientists to work together with a common goal to develop, validate and apply these models to further the field of human-specific research.
Dr Adrian Biddle
Dr Adrian Biddle was awarded the Animal Free Research UK Lectureship in Animal Replacement Science in 2016, which helped fund the establishment of his own independent research group at the ARC at Queen Mary University of London.
Dr Biddle’s group focusses on developing human-specific models to study tumour metastasis (the spread of cancer to other parts of the body) in head and neck cancer. Research carried out by the group, including previous Animal Free Research UK funded post-doctoral fellow Dr Gehad Youssef, and PhD student Momita Bhuiyan, uses advanced cell culture methods, organ-on-chip technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to study oral cancer metastasis without animals. Their multi-faceted approach aims to directly replace the time consuming, expensive, and unethical animal experiments that are commonly used in metastasis research, while providing human-specific results that can be directly translated into the clinic.
Building on the initial work carried out with Animal Free Research UK funding after the ARC was established, Adrian later secured a prestigious New Investigator Grant Award (NIRG) from the Medical Research Council (MRC), which further supported the continuation of this work.
”Tumour spread needs to be investigated in a controlled environment where you can look at every step – you can’t do that in an animal.
-Dr Adrian Biddle
Dr Adrian Biddle won our ‘Outstanding Scientist’ Award in 2023
Why study metastasis?
Cancer remains one of the world’s leading causes of death, with global cases projected to reach 28 million annually by 2040. Danger lies not only in the primary tumour, but also in metastatic secondary tumours that develop elsewhere in the body, which are responsible for around 90% of cancer-related deaths. Despite decades of research, we still understand relatively little about the process of metastasis, and how we can prevent it. A major reason for this is an overreliance on outdated, animal-based research methods – most commonly using mice – that can’t capture the complex, unpredictable behaviour of human cancer cells.
When cancer spreads, tumour cells must survive and adapt to entirely new environments within the body. This constant evolution makes them difficult to study – and even harder to treat. To make things even more difficult, tumours can vary widely from patient-to-patient, and they also behave differently from those seen in animals. As a result, findings from animal experiments often don’t translate into effective treatments for people.
If we can understand how cancer spreads, and what allows metastatic cancer cells to survive and establish themselves in new parts of the body, then we can begin to design better, more effective therapies to stop them in their tracks.
Some of Dr Biddle’s published data showing metastasis of human cancer cells
Dr Adrian Biddle
on the Animal Free Labcast!
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A high-tech way to predict cancer spread
Dr Biddle aims to develop a clinical test that can be used in a clinical setting to predict whether a patient’s cancer is likely to spread to another part of the body, or recur after treatment.
Using 3D human cell models and “metastasis-on-a-chip” devices, Dr Biddle’s team have been able to identify molecular mechanisms driving metastasis, and test drugs to see how effective they are. Using AI and machine learning, the team have also been able to to train an artificial neural network to recognise the staining of patient tissue samples to predict whether a tumour is likely to spread, with high accuracy.
Animal Free Research UK-funded PhD student Momita Bhuiyan developed this model during her PhD, which she completed in 2025, with a focus on increasing its complexity and relevance to humans.
Building on what has already been found using these innovative models, the team next aims to translate these findings into clinical test that can be used to predict whether a patient’s cancer is likely to spread to the lymph nodes or to other parts of the body.
PhD student Momita Bhuiyan working at the London ARC
Cancer cell organoids (3D balls of cells that closely resemble how a tumour grows in the body)
”We have successfully grown human oral cancer cells in special 3D gels. When we tested these cells, we found that they behaved very similarly to how they do in the human body. This is a very promising result because it shows that our 3D models are working as intended by accurately mimicking human tissues and tumours.
Supporting the next generation of animal-free researchers
With her PhD complete and the model firmly established, Momita has laid the foundation for a new way forward for metastasis research. But there’s more to be done. Dr Biddle’s goal is to continue this work and create a fully human-specific model of the metastatic process that can predict if a patient’s cancer is likely to spread, which is something current models, or animal experiments, simply cannot achieve.
To help realise this vision and continue developing this innovative model, Dr Biddle was awarded an ARC Grant of £25,000, which will support a one-year, in-depth training programme for a talented young scientist.
The studentship proved incredibly popular, receiving over 300 applications, and was recently awarded to Josh Abram, who started the project in October 2025. Josh’s project aims to create an entirely animal-free 3D model of a human lymph node, using synthetic hydrogels to mimic human tissues. This model will build on Momita’s work and allow Josh to study how oral cancer interacts with the lymph node environment, how it prepares (“primes”) the node for cancer spread, and which biological signals could potentially be targeted to stop this process. Josh aims to develop a system that behaves like real human tissue, giving results that are not only more clinically relevant than animal experiments, but also more ethical.
Josh says: “We know metastasis is not random, but it is very difficult to predict and therefore prevent. I hope to build 3D microfluidic animal-free organ models that we can insert patient samples into and forecast metastatic behaviour and intervene, ideally before cancers move anywhere in the body.
Funding from Animal Free Research UK has made this project possible. Their commitment to developing human-specific, animal-free science allows innovative ideas the time and space to mature, helping us build the next generation of models that can one day replace animals in medical research.”
