Biomaterials as ECM-like matrices for 3D in vitro tumor models

Cancer is an unmet global challenge causing a high socioeconomic impact, worldwide. Every year, an increased number of patients become resistant to standard anticancer therapeutics, highlighting the need for novel targeted and patient-specific therapies. Recently, there has been an increased great deal of interest in the development of in vitro three-dimensional (3D) tumor models. These emerging platforms can fill the gap between 2D cell studies and in vivo models. In fact, these novel benchtop tools can provide a deeper investigation of the molecular pathways underlying cancer development, in specifically designed 3D environments. Therefore, they could accelerate the discovery and validation of new anticancer therapies. These models can be fabricated using different categories of biomaterials, ranging from the synthetic to the natural origin. They can be further processed into different types of matrices/scaffolds, acting as extracellular matrix mimetics. The main types of biomaterials used for the generation of 3D in vitro tumor models and their recent applications are reviewed and discussed herein.This chapter is being part of the project FROnTHERA (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023), funded by the Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Lara Pierantoni thanks the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) for her PhD scholarship (PD/BD/150520/2019). J. Silva-Correia and J. M. Oliveira also thanks the FCT for the funds provided under the program Investigador FCT 2015 (IF/00115/2015 and IF/01285/2015, respectively). This research has also been supported by REMIX project (H2020-MSCA-RISE-2017), funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement n. 778078