Organoid Culture Using Single-Layer Matrigel Method Recapitulates Cervical Cancer Subtypes In Vitro—A Tool for Precision Medicine Applications

Advanced cervical cancer remains a major cause of mortality in women worldwide as it has limited treatment options and recurrence is very common. This highlights the necessity to develop patient-derived organoids (PDOs) as preclinical models that can recapitulate the clinical heterogeneity of the cancer in terms of molecular features and genetic background. The PDOs have potential for guiding personalized treatment in clinical practice. In this study, we have established patient-derived cervical cancer organoids from biopsy samples of five patients with two different histological subtypes (squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma) using a modified protocol. The organoids were characterized to assess their genetic and phenotypic similarity to the parental tumor tissue. The organoids developed in vitro preserved several characteristics of the parental tumors, including histological features, HPV status and a subset of genomic alterations. The expression of cervical cancer-related genes, including PIK3CA, MET, and LRP1B, was found to be comparable between the organoids and the parental tumor tissue. Moreover, characterization of the PDOs after cryopreservation showed the histopathological features of the parental tumor tissue. This study demonstrates that the CERvical Cancer OrganoidS (CERCOS) established using the current protocol hold potential to serve as a platform for personalized medicine.