Growing tumors in a dish, scientists try to personalize pancreatic cancer treatment

Using experimental protocols, some of Schwarzhans’ tumor cells are growing in lab dishes at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Those avatars of her own tumor, tiny balls of cells called organoids, can be distributed among lab dishes and each dosed with a different drug. If the 3D mini-tumors in one treated dish die off, researchers have good reason to suspect that the drug added to that dish will kill off her cancer cells, too. If those in another dish continue to grow and thrive, the drug added to that dish probably won’t do much to her tumor, either.