MIRO, a new look at tumour models

Two teams from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have developed MIRO, a new tumour platform that will make it possible to personalise cancer treatments. MIRO, which stands for Micro Immune Response On-chip, is a small microfluidic device where human tumour cells and their environment, called microenvironment, are grown to see how they interact. Unlike other microfluidic models that fail to capture the relationship between cancer cells and the microenvironment, this chip reproduces the three-dimensional structure of the tumour and its environment to understand how a tumour develops and fights.

With this new model, it has been possible to see the mechanism of action of immunotherapy. This cancer treatment is effective in only 20-40% of patients. Thanks to this model, it has been shown that the microenvironment creates a physical barrier around the tumour that prevents antibodies from penetrating in most cases. Studies have been conducted in HER2+ breast cancer, but both colon and lung cancer are already being studied.

According to Alexandre Calon, head of the project at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, the model “is designed to obtain information on anti-tumour immunity within four days of co-culture, but it can be used to study other treatments, not just immunotherapy. For example, it can be used to evaluate the adverse effects of the tumour microenvironment on other therapies that target cancer cells.” This model would allow early identification of the right treatment for each patient and is a leap forward in the advancement of personalised medicine.

The two centres, together with the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), have applied for a patent for the MIRO technology. With this, they want the platform to reach both hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry as soon as possible so that it can be used in patients.