“I was fascinated by the idea of using mechanical engineering to mimic and better understand how the human body functions,” says Kheiri, who began his PhD studies at the University of Toronto in 2019.
Graduate studies provided the opportunity to pursue his curiosity, where his research focused on developing small-scale platforms that can recreate human organs. Over the course of his research, Kheiri developed a new platform that makes targeted cancer treatments more precise and effective.
Curiosity and Serendipity
Kheiri discovered a link between the shapes of tumours and their behaviour by chance. During testing, he noticed that some tumours derived from patients were taking on certain curves and shapes, so he investigated further.
Why shape matters
Cancer researchers often use small 3D clusters of cells called “spheroids” to study tumours in the lab. These lab-grown models are usually limited to spherical shapes, while tumours in the body come in many forms. “In a recent study of breast cancer patients, only 20% of the tumours were actually spherical. If we only study spherical tumours, we miss out on understanding how different shapes affect cancer behaviour.” Sure enough, further testing revealed important differences in behaviour between spherical and rod-like shaped tumours, and different behaviour requires different treatment.
The ReSCUE Platform
Kheiri discovered that using treatment models in a variety of shapes and sizes can improve the precision of radiation therapy and drug delivery. He developed the ReSCUE platform – (Recoverable-Spheroid-on-a-Chip with Unrestricted External Shape), which helps predict cancer cell behaviour and aggressiveness. ReSCUE allow researchers to grow mini-tumours in any shape, which can then be easily removed for analysis to see how shape impacts cancer growth, and treatment response.
Previously, tumours grown on lab chips were difficult to recover and analyze, limiting research methods to basic observation under a microscope. With ReSCUE, researchers can perform in-depth tests on tumours of different shapes. “Understanding how tumour shape affects cell behaviour can help predict how aggressive a cancer might be,” says Kheiri. “It can also guide treatment strategies like targeted drug delivery or radiation therapy.”
Collaboration for impact
The project involved collaboration with the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, where Kheiri’s team used patient-derived breast cancer cells for additional experiments. The goal was to grow cells in the chip in a way that mimics real human tissue, further refining the platform.
Looking ahead
Kheiri, now a NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) continues to work on advancing the ReSCUE platform. The team has filed a U.S. patent and plans to add features like simulated blood vessels to make their models even more realistic. “The more features we can build into our models, the more they will behave like real tumours, which means better drug testing, more targeted therapies, and hopefully, better outcomes for patients.”