The B2B device is a unique environment to study a complex process in a controlled system. In an in vivo study, for example, several factors come into play e.g. the diet of the animal, its immune system, etc., and it’s much harder to define the impact of each one of these variables.
A simplified system like the B2B device helps instead to clear up our view of the process and to focus on key contributing factors. For example, in a controlled situation, it is easier to link a perturbation, as the addition of a drug, to a response without worrying about the influence of other factors. This is essential for the first application that we have envisioned for the B2B device, namely, to test compounds that might inhibit the formation of metastasis.
“In this regard, the B2B device is truly unique because it lets us model the whole process of cancer development, including both the growth of the mass at the primary site and the metastasis formation” as pointed out by Prof. Aceto “Therefore, we can look for anticancer treatments that are not only reducing the mass of the primary tumor but also the number of metastasis found downstream.”
The B2B device might have even wider applications. “It is essentially a chamber that hosts the spontaneous formation of a vascularized tissue – and it doesn’t need to be a cancerogenic tissue.” Indeed, the device can host other tissues and model their pathological or healthy behavior in a 3D setting. The potential is definitely very high.