A research team led by Professors Jeong Eun Kim and Eunyoung Tak of Asan Medical Center has overcome existing limitations by establishing a gelatin based 3D culture environment.

The study published in ‘Biomaterials Research’, a leading international journal in the field of convergent research, with an impact factor of 9.6.

▲ (From left) Professor Jeong Eun Kim of the Division of Oncology at Asan Medical Center, Professor Eunyoung Tak, Dr Jiwan Choi, and researcher Kyuyoung Han of the Department of Convergence Medicine at Asan Medical Center.

As cancer organoids that culture patients tumor tissue in a 3D environment to faithfully replicate real cancer characteristics gain attention as a key foundation for precision treatment, a Korean research team has successfully developed organoids for rare soft tissue sarcoma, a cancer type that has been difficult to culture using conventional methods.

A research team led by Professor Jeong Eun Kim of the Division of Oncology at Asan Medical Center, along with Professor Eunyoung Tak of the Department of Convergence Medicine, Dr Jiwan Choi, and researcher Kyuyoung Han, recently established an organoid model that faithfully reproduces tumor characteristics by culturing cancer cells from patients with soft tissue sarcoma in a gelatin based 3D environment.

Soft tissue sarcoma is a rare cancer that arises in soft tissues such as fat, muscle, and nerves. With more than 50 distinct subtypes, the disease shows marked heterogeneity even among patients diagnosed with the same condition. Conventional Matrigel based organoid culture methods have struggled to replicate the complex characteristics of sarcoma, resulting in a high failure rate in organoid formation.

The research team focused on the limitation of Matrigel, the conventional scaffold, which fails to replicate the physical stiffness and microenvironment unique to sarcoma. By optimizing the concentration and cross-linking conditions of highly biocompatible gelatin, the team created a 3D hydrogel scaffold with elasticity similar to that of actual human tissue. The researchers then seeded cancer cells isolated from patients’ surgical specimens into this environment, maximizing cell viability and successfully forming 3D structures that closely resemble real tumors.

To validate the reliability of the newly established organoids, the team conducted next generation sequencing and histopathological analyses. The results showed that organoids cultured in the gelatin-based environment closely matched patients’ actual tumor tissue in terms of genetic mutation patterns and protein expression profiles.

The researchers further identified the molecular biological mechanisms by which the gelatin scaffold enhances mitochondrial function within cancer cells and strengthens cell-to-cell adhesion, allowing the organoids to maintain structural stability even during long-term culture.

Patient derived organoids enable clinicians to predict the most effective anticancer drug combinations in advance and to assess the risk of recurrence and treatment response. This study provides a significant foundation for advancing precision medicine, including personalized anticancer drug screening for patients with soft tissue sarcoma.

Professor Eunyoung Tak of the Department of Convergence Medicine at Asan Medical Center said, “Through this study, we addressed the technical limitations of soft tissue sarcoma organoids, which have been difficult to establish using conventional methods, by developing a gelatin based 3D culture environment. We expect this new organoid culture platform to serve as a practical tool for designing patient tailored treatment strategies.”

The research team published the findings in the latest issue of ‘Biomaterials Research’, a leading international journal in the field of biomaterials based convergent research, with an impact factor of 9.6.