Predicting the clinical response to chemotherapeutic or targeted treatment in patients with locally advanced or metastatic lung cancer requires an accurate and affordable tool. Tumor organoids are a potential approach in precision medicine for predicting the clinical response to treatment. However, their clinical application in lung cancer has rarely been reported because of the difficulty in generating pure tumor organoids. In this study, we have generated 214 cancer organoids from 107 patients, of which 212 are lung cancer organoids (LCOs), primarily derived from malignant serous effusions. LCO-based drug sensitivity tests (LCO-DSTs) for chemotherapy and targeted therapy have been performed in a real-world study to predict the clinical response to the respective treatment. LCO-DSTs accurately predict the clinical response to treatment in this cohort of patients with advanced lung cancer. In conclusion, LCO-DST is a promising precision medicine tool in treating of advanced lung cancer.
Success rate of lung cancer organoids (LCOs) from malignant effusions exceeds 80%
LCOs faithfully reflect the sample’s pathologic and genomic features
LCO-based drug sensitivity tests accurately predict clinical response to treatment
LCO-based drug sensitivity tests represent temporal and spatial heterogeneity
Wang et al. generated lung cancer organoids (LCOs) derived from human malignant serous effusions and tissues. The LCOs accurately represented original tumor features. Drug sensitivity tests were performed to predict clinical response. The results illustrated enormous value of LCO as an in vitro platform for personalized medicine of lung cancer.