Singapore-made gel allows lab testing of drugs on live samples of advanced abdominal cancer

A hydrogel developed in Singapore to keep tumor samples alive outside the body for drug testing is now being used in research to find individualized treatment for advanced cancer in the abdominal lining.

- Judith Tan

This offers hope to some patients who face an average survival rate of just several months.

The jelly-like hydrogel is made from hyaluronic acid, a water-retentive substance found naturally in human tissues and fluids in the skin, joints and eyes.

Scientists in Singapore have found that it can keep samples of advanced cancer in the abdominal lining alive for up to 12 days, enabling them to conduct drug tests and monitor how the cancer cells react to treatment.

Without the hydrogel, cancer samples typically disintegrate within a few hours to a couple of days outside the body.

The research was conducted using samples of secondary cancer in the abdominal lining, known as secondary peritoneal metastasis. Secondary cancers are those that have spread from the original site to other parts of the body. Primary cancers refer to the original tumors.

In a 2023 study, the team had bioengineered the hydrogel to keep primary tumor samples from the head and the neck alive for 10 days to test drugs and treatments on them.