Project leader: C. Rüegg, B. Rothen-Rutishauser

Team: N. Bruns, A. Fink, M. Lütolf, A. Studart

Cancer cells evolve in close contact with a multitude of normal cells, in particular immune and inflammatory cells, that can provide cues promoting growth, invasion and metastasis but also signals that can keep them dormant. A better understanding of the cross-talk between tumor cells and immune/inflammatory cells will be key to the development of disruptive, innovative therapeutic approaches. Our ability to study these interactions with high resolution/high content in vivo, however, is highly limited. Here we propose to develop an in vitro breast tumoroid culture system to study multicellular interactions under bioinspired dynamic conditions, allowing multiparametric monitoring, manipulations and delivery of nano materials with unprecedented precision and control.