Cells and Models

Our Cells and Models group focuses on developing cell culture models of biological function and disease, especially the development of preclinical cancer models by cultivating and preserving primary cell lines derived from patients. This is often a highly collaborative work in close integration with clinicians and surgeons around us. Our mission is to bridge laboratory research with clinical impact by developing advanced 2D and 3D patient-derived models. These models are used to generate phenotypic data such as data from drug sensitivity screens, analyzing how our tumours of patients in our local population respond to common chemotherapy drugs and paving the way for testing novel anticancer therapeutics. These models can also be used to test predictions or biomarker candidates identified by the Data team such as miRNA species or protein interactions. Insights from this work are shared with clinicians to gain further clinical insights and fine-tune our strategies. By tailoring drug regimens to each patient’s unique cellular profile, we ultimately aim to advance precision medicine and transform cancer care outcomes beginning with our local populations and then going beyond.

What are cancer models?

Tumours are often fast-growing cells that have lost the ability to regulate their division and growth. During the removal of tumours, small parts of these tumour tissues (aliquots we call them) can be quickly brought back to the lab to be given near-physiological conditions (or conditions that are similar to that inside the body). This includes temperature, humidity, the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide, water, nutrients and certain growth factors. When done the right way, these cells might be tricked and they start growing inside the flask or tube inside the Lab! Once the cells are happy and dividing and re-dividing, we can all them cell lineage or cell lines of that specific tumour from that specific patient. Since a large swathe of experiments is not possible in a patient or human subject, these cell lines offer a fantastic ‘preclinical model’ of the specific cancer in the specific patient population, which we can use to undertake experimental validation of our ideas and hypotheses. The opportunities don’t stop there – since the cells are perpetually dividing and re-dividing if given the right conditions – we can also freeze small portions of these cells at very low temperatures so we can thaw them for later use or just store them indefinitely.