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Banking on Organoids

Building a bank of tumour models for the diversity of childhood kidney cancers

09 May 2020

Banking on Organoids

Cancers are diverse, even at the level of a single organ such as the kidney. The kidney has over 30 different cell types which can become involved in tumour development. Different kidney cancer types involve different combinations of cells. Better models of these tumours are needed to reflect their diversity for more informative research. Researchers now describe the first children’s cancer organoid biobank, which includes kidney cancer organoids from over 50 children with different cancer types. These organoids were grown from tumour samples from patients and retained key features of the original tumours. Using high-resolution 3D imaging, researchers demonstrated that an organoid from a kidney cancer type called Wilms' tumour (pictured) contained multiple cell types — epithelial (red), blastemal (green) and stromal cells (white) — that accurately reflected Wilms' tumours in patients. This showcases how the biobank can provide faithful models to investigate tumour biology and test cancer drugs.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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