DRL Diagnostic Research Laboratory

Driven by cutting-edge science, Diagnostic Research Laboratory ( DRL), the premier source for annotated human biospecimens, has recently initiated a new program – the establishment of patient-derived tumor organoid cultures from tumor biopsies and surgically resected tissues (lung, colon, or ovarian cancer). Organoids are self-organizing clusters of cells that grow in three dimensions and exhibit architecture and function that can resemble what is seen in tissues and organs. Organoids provide powerful tools for the study of the cancer's pathobiology as well as advanced preclinical tools for (personalized) drug screening and discovery. Moreover, as it has been shown for colorectal cancer (Schnalzger et al., 2019), organoids might be highly instrumental in the field of immunotherapy (e.g., using CAR-T and natural killer cells). DRL offers a service for establishing organoid cultures.