Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30647431›Full record

ReviewNature reviews. Cancer2019

Modelling cancer in microfluidic human organs-on-chips.

Alexandra Sontheimer-Phelps, Bryan A Hassell, Donald E Ingber

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Nature reviews. Cancer, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 454 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
454citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
43.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

454 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 841 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
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  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Organoids-on-a-Chip: An Integrating New Technology for Drug Development.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
    Review
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  12. Article
  13. Review
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  16. The Application of 3D Cell Culture in Thyroid Cancer.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2026
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Review

394 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Alexandra Sontheimer-PhelpsWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4732-2835
Bryan A HassellWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
Donald E IngberWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA. don.ingber@wyss.harvard.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4319-6520
Harvard University · USBoston Children's Hospital · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

One of the problems that has slowed the development and approval of new anticancer therapies is the lack of preclinical models that can be used to identify key molecular, cellular and biophysical features of human cancer progression. This is because most in vitro cancer models fail to faithfully recapitulate the local tissue and organ microenvironment in which tumours form, which substantially contributes to the complex pathophysiology of the disease. More complex in vitro cancer models have been developed, including transwell cell cultures, spheroids and organoids grown within flexible extracellular matrix gels, which better mimic normal and cancerous tissue development than cells maintained on conventional 2D substrates. But these models still lack the tissue-tissue interfaces, organ-level structures, fluid flows and mechanical cues that cells experience within living organs, and furthermore, it is difficult to collect samples from the different tissue microcompartments. In this Review, we outline how recent developments in microfluidic cell culture technology have led to the generation of human organs-on-chips (also known as organ chips) that are now being used to model cancer cell behaviour within human-relevant tissue and organ microenvironments in vitro. Organ chips enable experimentalists to vary local cellular, molecular, chemical and biophysical parameters in a controlled manner, both individually and in precise combinations, while analysing how they contribute to human cancer formation and progression and responses to therapy. We also discuss the challenges that must be overcome to ensure that organ chip models meet the needs of cancer researchers, drug developers and clinicians interested in personalized medicine.

Indexed as

AnimalsDisease ProgressionHumansMicrofluidicsModels, BiologicalNeoplasmsPrecision MedicineTumor Microenvironment

Identifiers

PMID30647431
OpenAlexW2909633774

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.