New Chip Predicts Brain Tumor Treatment Outcomes

Woman in bed undergoing cancer treatment, looking at her phone with hope and determination. Photo: Ivan S/Pexels

A research team from KAIST, South Korea’s national research university, has developed a patient-specific chip that could improve treatment predictions for glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor.

The chip, called the blood-brain tumor barrier (BBTB) chip, recreates tumor cells and their surrounding blood vessel environment. Professor Song Ih Ahn of KAIST’s Department of Mechanical Engineering led its development, collaborating with researchers from Sungkyunkwan University, CHA Bundang Medical Center, and CHA University.

Glioblastoma poses treatment challenges due to its varying characteristics among patients and the blood-brain barrier, which restricts anticancer drug delivery to the tumor. The BBTB chip addresses this by combining patient-derived glioblastoma cells with brain vascular endothelial cells and astrocytes, recreating the boundary between tumor and normal brain tissue.

In a study published in Small, the team tested the chip using tumor cells from three glioblastoma patients. They assessed responses to temozolomide (TMZ) and bevacizumab (BEV), two standard treatments. Despite similar genetic profiles, the chips revealed differences in vascular barrier characteristics and drug responses, aligning with the patients’ actual clinical outcomes.

This innovation may allow doctors to test multiple drugs using a patient’s own tumor cells and environment, potentially identifying effective treatments before therapy begins. The platform could also screen new drug candidates. Professor Ahn stated that they plan to validate the platform in a larger patient population and develop it as a preclinical tool for personalized treatment strategies.

Funding for the research came from the Korea-US Collaborative Research Fund, Korea Health Industry Development Institute, and the Early-Career Researcher Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea.

For glioblastoma patients, this advancement could mean more accurate treatment predictions and personalized care, potentially improving outcomes in a disease where decisions are critical. Testing drugs on a patient’s own tumor cells may reduce the trial-and-error approach common in cancer treatment.

KAIST doctoral student Minsu Ryoo and Sungkyunkwan University doctoral student Gaeun Lee were co-first authors of the study, titled Human Blood-Brain Tumor Barrier on a Chip to Investigate Personalized Treatment for Glioblastoma Patients.