Hydrogels as a New Platform to Recapitulate the Tumor Microenvironment

Abstract Recent advances in tissue engineering include the incorporation of multiple cell types into three-dimensional (3D) hydrogels to recapitulate extracellular matrix (ECM) structures and the functionality of living tissues in vitro. For decades, researchers have been investigating the complex mechanisms of cancer metastasis, tumorigenesis, and angiogenesis over two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cell culture models, or in vivo animal models. Increasing numbers of unsuccessful clinical trials for cancer therapy indicate the need to upgrade the current practice in the culturing of cancer cells and modeling of tumor microenvironments in vitro. The use of new 3D hydrogels as a new platform that can recapture many crucial features of the native tumor microenvironment would be advantageous in the assessment of cancer progression and metastasis for clinical trials.