Stanford breast cancer organoid resource for studying metastasis
Core 2: Stanford Breast Metastasis Center Organoid Core
This project grows 3-D breast cancer organoids from patient tumors to help researchers study metastatic disease and how tumors respond to therapies.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Stanford University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Stanford, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11178573 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers create patient-derived 3-D organoids using an air-liquid interface method that preserves tumor cells together with surrounding immune and stromal cells. These organoids retain the original tumor's genetic and histologic features and can be used for drug-response tests, gene-editing experiments, and large-scale genomic screens. The Organoid Core supplies these models to Stanford Breast Metastasis Center investigators to study how breast cancer spreads and what drives treatment resistance. Patients may be asked to donate tumor or biopsy tissue to generate organoids that reflect their own cancer.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are people with breast cancer—especially those with metastatic disease—who can provide tumor tissue or consent to biopsy for organoid generation.
Not a fit: Patients without available tumor tissue, those who cannot or do not want to donate samples, or people with non-breast cancers are unlikely to directly benefit from participating in this core.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this resource could lead to better ways to predict which treatments will work for individual patients and to new therapies that target metastatic breast cancer.
How similar studies have performed: Patient-derived organoids and air-liquid interface methods have shown promise in retaining tumor features and predicting drug responses in prior published work.
Where this research is happening
Stanford, United States
- Stanford University — Stanford, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kuo, Calvin J — Stanford University
- Study coordinator: Kuo, Calvin J
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 below.