In APL Bioengineering, by AIP Publishing, researchers from Academia Sinica, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, National Taiwan University Hospital, and National Taiwan University developed a 3D cell culture system to test how inhibiting fibroblast activities can help treat lung cancer. They found that combining the anti-fibrotic drug nintedanib with the anti-cancer drug cisplatin increased the efficacy of the latter.
To simulate the tumor microenvironment and mimic real tissues, the team co-cultured lung cancer cells and fibroblasts in a 3D matrix. The cancer cells formed a spheroid, around which the fibroblasts were randomly distributed.
The researchers tested the anti-cancer drug cisplatin with and without two anti-fibrotic drugs, nintedanib and pirfenidone. They measured indicators of tumor growth and invasiveness, finding that nintedanib improved the anti-cancer efficacy of cisplatin. Pirfenidone did not show a similar effect.
