A new project, supported by the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund, aims to test hundreds of drugs simultaneously using advanced 3D cell models, despite limited sample material. The goal is to identify more treatment options for children with cancer, building on existing resources from GMS Childhood Cancer and the Swedish Childhood Tumor Biobank.
Brinton Seashore-Ludlow , Biology Team Leader at the Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden's (CBCS) KI site and Associate Professor at the Department of Oncology-Pathology , is leading the initiative. CBCS provides access to small drug molecules, allowing the project to leverage nearly 5,000 FDA-approved drugs.
The project is carried out in two phases, with the first focusing on examining whether testing different drug combinations on cells cultured in a microtiter plate can predict treatment response. In collaboration with the treating oncologist, the alignment between ex vivo drug testing and the patient's actual clinical response is analyzed.
The next phase of the project aims to develop a diagnostic test that can be used before treatment begins to optimize the therapeutic strategy.
In the project, pediatric oncologists, hospital geneticists, and researchers involved in GMS Childhood Cancer collaborate, including OnkPat researchers David Tamborero and Sandra Wessman , together with the Childhood Tumor Bank and CBCS at SciLifeLab.
The project is funded by the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund with 3 million SEK over three years.
