NYU Abu Dhabi researchers develop breakthrough in tumour treatment

NYU Abu Dhabi researchers develop breakthrough in tumour treatment

Abu Dhabi, UAE, 22 February 2021:  By engineering common filter papers, similar to coffee filters, a team of NYU Abu Dhabi researchers have created high throughput arrays of miniaturized 3D tumour models to replicate key aspects of tumour physiology, which are absent in traditional drug testing platforms. With the new paper-based technology, the formed tumour models can be safely cryopreserved and stored for prolonged periods for on-demand drug testing use. These cryopreservable tumour models could provide the pharmaceutical industry with an easy and low-cost method for investigating the outcomes of drug efficacy, potentially bolstering personalised medicine. The developed technology can be transferred to other trending therapeutic applications such as measuring tumour response to drug concentration gradients, studying cancer cell signalling pathways, and investigations of invasive tumours.

The findings were published this month in the paper Cryopreservable Arrays of Paper-Based 3D Tumour Models for High Throughput Drug Screening, in the flagship journal, Lab on a Chip. The findings build on the team's earlier research engineering the paper platforms.

Led by Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at NYUAD Mohammad A. Qasaimeh, the researchers sought to