Quick, dye-free imaging of patient tumor organoids to predict treatment response
Official title: Functional optical imaging for rapid, label-free predictions of treatment response and clonal evolution in patient-derived cancer organoids
Funded at Morgridge Institute for Research, INC. · NIH-11285357 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Using live, label-free imaging of tiny 3D tumor samples grown from a patient's own cancer to quickly predict which treatments are likely to work.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Morgridge Institute for Research, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Madison, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2023 |
| Project end | March 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $662,514 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA272855-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11285357 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients with cancer who can provide tumor tissue (from surgery or biopsy) suitable for growing organoids are the best candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People who cannot provide tumor tissue, whose tumors do not grow as organoids, or whose cancer type is not compatible with organoid models may not benefit from this work.
What this research studies
Researchers grow small, 3-D versions of my tumor called patient-derived organoids and use optical metabolic imaging to watch how cells respond to drugs without adding dyes or fixing the tissue. They focus on tracking differences between organoids from the same patient and following how resistant cell clones emerge over time. The team is adapting two-photon imaging and image analysis so the tests can be faster, less expensive, and usable across multiple centers. The aim is to enable larger drug screens on single organoids and to make personalized treatment predictions more widely available.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help choose more effective cancer treatments faster and reduce exposure to ineffective therapies.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work with two-photon optical metabolic imaging has shown promise in predicting treatment response, but scaling to higher-throughput and lower-cost imaging is a newer effort.
Where this research is happening
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Morgridge Institute for Research, INC.
Madison, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Skala, Melissa Caroline — Morgridge Institute for Research, INC.
- Study coordinator: Skala, Melissa Caroline
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.