Revolutionising breast cancer research: Patient-specific organoids for breakthrough treatments
Transition Grant
Revolutionising breast cancer research: Patient-specific organoids for breakthrough treatments
Dr Jenny Ashworth
University of Nottingham
Dr Jenny Ashworth has developed a customisable animal-free scaffold for growing cancer cells in 3D, closely replicating the environment in breast cancer. This innovative product could revolutionise how we study cancer, improving outcomes for patients while replacing animals in this area of research.
Animals to be replaced
Mice
Breast Cancer in the UK: A closer look
In the UK, breast cancer is the most common cancer type, accounting for 15% of all new cancer cases. The stark reality is that 1 in 7 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime, with over 56,800 new cases diagnosed each year. Of these, around 390 cases are in men, a number that has risen by 38% in the 65-69 age group since 1993.
Despite significant advances in treatment, breast cancer is still the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the UK, with around 11,500 deaths annually. And while 76% of patients survive for more than 10 years, the fight is far from over.
What’s more alarming is that around 30% of these cases are preventable, highlighting the importance of ongoing education and research. With the costs of breast cancer projected to rise to £3.6 billion by 2034, the need for investment in innovative, non-animal-based research has never been clearer.
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What are organoids in breast cancer research?
Cells can be grown in 3D to create ‘cell balls’ called organoids: miniature replicas of human organs, tumours or other diseases that can be used to study cell behaviour and test new drugs. Organoids are grown in the lab with the support of a scaffold, or matrix, which helps them to develop in a similar way to their usual arrangement in the body. There are many different types of matrices available, but as recent research has shown that the environment surrounding cancer cells plays an important role in how tumours develop, creating a scaffold which is as similar as possible to the human environment is crucial to getting the most out of a cell-based model.
”It would be amazing if we could definitively prove that our method doesn’t need Matrigel—not only would it be a major ethical win, but it would also advance science. After all, human breast tissue is nothing like a mouse’s, so our approach is far more relevant and personalised for patients.
The challenge of breast cancer’s changing environment
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex network of proteins and other molecules that provides structural and biochemical support to cells. Changes in the ECM during cancer development have an important influence on how the cells grow, spread and respond to treatments. Replicating these changes in 3D cell culture is essential for understanding cancer growth and developing effective treatments, but current methods often fall short. The ability to recreate the ECM at different cancer stages is an essential factor to increase the complexity and relevance of human cell-based models.
Problems with existing cell scaffolds
Most commonly used scaffolds are made using animal-derived products, which can make their properties inconsistent and different to what is found in the human body. One of the most commonly used scaffolds is Matrigel, a widely used product derived from mouse tumours. It is estimated that an average large research facility could use over 200 vials of Matrigel per year, and this number is increasing rapidly as more groups move away from animal experiments towards cell-based approaches. At least one mouse is used to make just two small tubes of Matrigel, so hundreds of thousands of mice is required to fulfil this demand each year. Matrigel is used extensively worldwide, even though it suffers from well-known issues including differences in batches. There is a clear need to develop reliable, animal-free alternatives to this product.
An animal-free alternative to breast cancer research
Dr Jenny Ashworth and her team at the University of Nottingham have developed a new non-animal derived material, called a peptide gel, to help solve this problem.
Unlike Matrigel and other scaffolds, peptide gels can be tailor-made to replicate the specific ECM conditions found in different diseases, such as breast cancer. The flexibility of the peptide gels is important because as tumours develop and grow, the surrounding ECM becomes stiffer and the chemical composition changes. By using a peptide gel to mimic the environment found at different breast cancer stages, this can ‘trick’ the organoids into behaving in the same way they would in the body, allowing testing of drugs to predict the most effective way to treat breast cancer in patients.
Jenny’s preliminary data has shown that the breast cancer-specific peptide gels help breast organoids to develop in a similar way to how they would grow in the human body. The team will continue to test the peptide gels for long-term organoid growth and compare the size, growth and branchpoints against those grown using Matrigel. The project outcomes could represent a significant step towards accurately modelling and understanding breast cancer progression in humans.
Sharing knowledge in breast cancer research
As well as providing a more ethical alternative to animal-derived approaches, peptide gels could transform the future of cell-based cancer research, with benefits for both humans and animals. This technology not only addresses the ethical concerns and flaws associated with animal experiments but can also improve the accuracy and relevance of cell-based research, paving the way for more effective treatments and better patient outcomes in future.
Peptide gels can be used by any lab, without the need for specialist expertise or equipment. Dr Ashworth will publish her methods to increase interest and encourage others to use this technology, initially in breast cancer research but with future applications to other diseases. The results will also be shared at international conferences and the results will be used to apply for further larger funding to continue developing the technology.
Dr Jenny Ashworth on the
Animal Free Labcast!
Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts
Dr Ashworth is working to replace animal-derived materials such as Matrigel with animal-free alternatives
This research could lead to around 2,500 mice being replaced, with the potential for thousands more as the methods become more widely used
What is an organoid?
Imagine growing a miniature version of your liver, lung, or even your brain in a laboratory. Sounds like science fiction, doesn’t it? But thanks to the groundbreaking field of organoid technology, it’s becoming reality. These tiny, 3D “mini-organs” are grown from stem cells or cells taken from patients, offering an incredible way to study the human body – without the use of animals.
Organoids are helping to replace animal experiments in the study of diseases like cancer. Researchers can now take tumours directly from patients and grow them as organoids to study their unique genetic characteristics and sensitivity to treatments. This opens the door to testing new drugs and treatments in ways that truly mimic how a patient’s body would respond—bringing us ever closer to developing personalised, patient-specific treatments.
In short, organoids aren’t just fascinating little cell clusters—they’re transforming our understanding of human biology and driving the next wave of medical breakthroughs.
