Scientists are creating a glioblastoma ‘tumour on a chip’ – a tiny living system capable of mimicking the key features of the human brain and providing a deeper understanding of how the aggressive brain cancer works.
It is hoped that the Nottingham Trent University study will provide fresh insight into how glioblastoma tumours grow and how medicines can best reach them.
Glioblastoma is the most aggressive form of brain cancer in adults. It grows quickly, resists treatment and is extremely hard to target because medicines struggle to cross the brain’s natural protective shield, known as the blood–brain barrier.
Even with surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, most glioblastoma patients survive just ten to 15 months after diagnosis, and fewer than 6% live beyond five years.
The research, in partnership with biotechnology company Kirkstall Ltd, involves combining human-derived cells with a microfluidic system.
Cells will be grown inside the chip to form a blood-brain barrier, before introducing glioblastoma cells to see how the tumour develops and how medicines travel through the barrier to reach them.
Fluid is able to flow through the device in the same way that blood moves through vessels and the cells behave just as they would inside the body.
By studying brain cancer more effectively the aim is to provide a more accurate, human-relevant way to test chemotherapies, paving the way for new treatments and improving the likelihood of promising drugs reaching patients.
The work could also replace the need for large numbers of animals in early‑stage glioblastoma drug studies.
It will involve using advanced imaging techniques, including microscopy, ultrasound and MRI, to monitor how the tumour develops and how well drugs penetrate the barrier and affect tumour growth.
“There is an urgent need for better ways to test new treatments before they reach clinical trials,” said lead researcher Professor Gareth Cave, a scientist in Nottingham Trent University’s School of Science and Technology.
He said: “Current laboratory models, including those that rely on animals, often fail to accurately reflect how glioblastoma behaves in the human brain, meaning many potential drugs show promise in early testing but do not work in patients.
“We are creating a platform which more accurately reflects the human brain environment and has potential to fundamentally change how glioblastoma treatments are developed.
“This project represents an important step toward more predictive, ethical and impactful cancer research.”
Malcolm Wilkinson, Director at Kirkstall Ltd, said: “Existing preclinical models often fail to replicate the complexity of the human blood–brain barrier tumour interface, resulting in poor prediction of how drugs will behave in patients.
“This new tumour‑on‑chip platform seeks to address these weaknesses and represents a major advancement in human‑relevant cancer research. It will support the development of a next‑generation glioblastoma model that addresses urgent challenges in drug discovery while reducing reliance on animal experimentation.”
The study is part-funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) and Kirkstall Ltd.
It has been supported by an NC3Rs‑BBSRC Business Interaction Voucher award, a new joint funding initiative from the research councils. Learn more on the NC3Rs website.
