The Use of Organoids in Veterinary Oncology

Presentation Description / Summary: Organoids are 3-dimensional in vitro cultures of primary epithelia tissues derived from adult stem cells. When derived from tumor tissue, these cultures have the advantage of representing the tumor microarchitecture more closely than 2-d cell cultures and contain several tumor stem cell clones as well as variably differentiated cells. Organoids have therefore become a pivotal tool in human oncology to elucidate resistance mechanisms of stem cells after treatment, as well as being used for precision-medicine purposes to predict individualized treatment options. We have recently made progress in culturing and characterizing tumor organoids from canine bladder cancer, lung tumors, mammary tumors and pituitary tumors. In this presentation, a state-of-the -art overview of current organoid technology in veterinary oncology will be presented, as well as examples of specific tumor types and how they can help modeling the tumor microenvironment in dogs.

Learner Outcomes: Attendees obtain knowledge on what organoids are and how these in vitro methods can be applied in veterinary oncology. Attendees will gain insight into specific applications of these tools for research and clinical applications, in particular for prediction of treatment response in individual dogs presenting with various tumor types.