Developing a 3D Metastasis Model for Metastatic Progression in Medullary Thyroid Cancer
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Abstract
Thyroid cancer is currently the fastest-growing cancer in the United States. Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) originates from the parafollicular cells, otherwise known as C cells, of the thyroid gland and has a significantly worse prognosis than all other thyroid cancers. The majority of MTC patients present with advanced disease, already having either regional or distant metastases. Unfortunately, currently, existing treatments cannot improve most MTC patients’ prognosis in these advanced disease states. Therefore, this study aims to create and validate a 3D model capable of identifying the underlying signaling pathways that govern metastatic progression with the hope of discovering potential novel therapies for MTC in future applications. To test this model, we will 1) perform LIVE/DEAD assays to validate cell viability and 2) model MTC metastasis using cell injection metastasis-on-a-chip (MOC) designs. Early results show promise of a new invasion model of MTC for therapeutic targets.