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SHORT NEWS

Mini-tumours from the laboratory should improve cancer therapy

#bladder #cancer #cancer diagnostics #laboratory #medicine #research #tumour

A swiss research team has grown artificial mini bladder tumours in the laboratory, on which drugs can be tested. According to the researchers, this could play an important role in the development of personalised therapies.

A symbolic image of a laboratory session in the inselspital berne

According to a statement from the Inselspital Bern, this is particularly important in the case of bladder cancer. This type of cancer varies greatly from patient to patient. Finding a therapy is therefore difficult. Every tumour reacts differently to a certain treatment. Accordingly, the overall response rate to standard therapies for bladder cancer patients is less than 30 per cent.

Scientists therefore place great hope in personalised therapies that are tailored to the individual patient.

Researchers at Inselspital – the University Hospital of Bern – and the University of Bern have taken a step in this direction. The scientists cultivated so-called tumour organoids from individual cancer cells of 41 patients with bladder cancer.

Testing the course of therapy in advance

This is a type of mini-tumour that is very similar to its parent tumour, as the scientists showed in their publication in the renowned scientific journal "Nature Communications". The organoids reacted similarly to cancer drugs as the original tumours in patients taking the same drugs.

According to the scientists, the artificial tumours can help in the future to characterise a patient's cancer more precisely and to test the response to a therapy individually in advance.

Written by: sda

Photos: Inselspital

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A smart path into a sustainable future

Sustainability is no longer a distant dream but a present and pressing reality. Climate change and environmental degradation are forcing companies to take action. They must innovate and implement smart sustainability solutions, says Carlos Sanchez, a renowned sustainability visionary who shared with us the latest sustainability trends that can help build robust, resilient, and sustainable businesses.
September 28th, 2023
Mechanics performing maintenance work on an aircraft

Researchers make non-recyclable plastic recyclable

Swiss researchers have developed a new type of recyclable plastic that could be used in aircraft, cars or wind turbines in the future.
October 2nd, 2023
Recycled asphalt was used on the Lucmanier Pass

More recycled asphalt on Swiss roads

Tests with recycled asphalt on Swiss roads show promising results. In Uster ZH and on the Lukmanier Pass GR, the proportion of recycled asphalt could be increased without any loss of performance, according to Empa.
October 16th, 2023
a photovoltaic system on a house facade

Sun soon to be the most important source of energy

The sun is likely to become the world's most important source of energy before 2050, according to British scientists. This is the result of an analysis of technological and economic data by the University of Exeter and University College London.
November 27th, 2023
A hospital room with two beds divided by a curtain

Germicidal textiles for hospitals

A new process developed by Swiss researchers makes textiles germicidal. In future, this could be used to coat curtains in hospitals.
December 25th, 2023
G.V. Shivashankar arbeitet am PSI und der ETH Zürich

Fountain of youth for cells

Reprogrammed cells allow wounds in older people to heal faster. This could, for example, help burn victims.
January 1st, 2024
A scientist taking a water sample with a bottle

Gentle identification of fish species through their DNA

Identifying fish species in a river using DNA traces: This method was tested in Switzerland. It proved to be simpler and more reliable than the electrofishing method used to date.
January 15th, 2024
pressed plastic bottles

Microplastics fly particularly far and high

Microplastic fibres fly higher and further than previously assumed - even as far as the Arctic.
January 22nd, 2024
A futuristic aircraft with a blended wing body

Aircraft of the future make less noise

In an Empa research project, study participants rated the noise of new types of aircraft as less annoying than the noise of today's aircraft.
April 9th, 2024