Tissue-engineered model developed to study bone-invading tumor

Researchers have used tissue engineering to create models for studying the bone-destroying activity of tumors such as the aggressive pediatric cancer Ewing's sarcoma. A new 3-dimensional, living model of the osteolytic process and bone remodeling, which can serve a valuable tool for exploring disease mechanisms and the effectiveness of potential treatments, is described in Tissue Engineering, Part C, Methods.

In the article entitled "Tissue-Engineered Model of Human Osteolytic Bone Tumor," Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic and coauthors from Columbia University, New York, NY and Politecnico di Milano, Italy, present the methods used to bioengineer a living Ewing's sarcoma model that includes both osteoclasts and osteoblasts in a controllable biomimetic environment. The researchers demonstrate the usefulness of the model for testing anti-osteolytic drugs.

"There is an urgent need for the development of human-like tumor models. This article is an excellent example of the progress being made," says Methods Co-Editor-in-Chief John A. Jansen, DDS, PhD, Professor and Head, Department of Biomaterials, Radboud University Medical Center, The Netherlands.