For the first time, researchers used lab-grown organoids created from tumors of individuals with glioblastoma (GBM) to accurately model a patient’s response to CAR T cell therapy in real time. The organoid’s response to therapy mirrored the response of the actual tumor in the patient’s brain. That is, if the tumor-derived organoid shrunk after treatment, so did the patient’s actual tumor.

A group of scientists at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center has revealed a new genetic code that acts like a cancer ringleader, recruiting and deploying a gang of tumor cells to incite a biological turf war by invading healthy organs and overpowering the normal cells. This discovery — published today, Dec. 9, in Nature Biotechnology — could unveil an entirely different understanding of the origins of cancer within the body, as well as offer groundbreaking insight into new treatment strategies that could target the growth of tumors in their earliest stages. A group of scientists at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center has revealed a new genetic code that acts like a cancer ringleader, recruiting and deploying a gang of tumor cells to incite a biological turf war by invading healthy organs and overpowering the normal cells. This discovery — published today, Dec. 9, in Nature Biotechnology — could unveil an entirely different understanding of the origins of cancer within the body, as well as offer groundbreaking insight into new treatment strategies that could target the growth of tumors in their earliest stages.