The Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) has participated in an international study led by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard that expands the Cancer Dependency Map (DepMap), a leading repository of cancer research models. The current study, published in the journal Nature, incorporates nearly 150 three-dimensional cancer models covering ten different tumor types.

DepMap is an international project that aims to create a map of cancer vulnerabilities. Using genomic techniques and drug sensitivity testing, it enables researchers to identify potential therapeutic targets and biomarkers that can help design more precise treatments for each type of tumor. All this information is made available to the scientific community through a public portal so that it can be used in other research projects.

Until recently, DepMap only included data from traditional cell cultures, in which cells grow on a flat surface. This new study adds data from three-dimensional models, such as organoids, which are created in the laboratory from patients’ tumor cells. Their three-dimensional structure makes it possible to reproduce certain features in a way that more closely resembles the original tumor.

Among the models recently added, VHIR has contributed data from organoids derived from patients with endometrial cancer. “Adding this information to DepMap makes it possible to compare 2D and 3D cultures and identify alterations that may be relevant to tumor cell survival,” explains Dr Beatriz Villafranca, who completed her doctoral thesis in Biomedical Research in Gynaecology group at VHIR and participated in the characterization of the organoid models during a research stay at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) through an M-AES fellowship.

The results show that 3D models and traditional models provide complementary information, and that having access to both makes it possible to obtain a more comprehensive picture of the characteristics of different tumors. This information may be particularly useful for identifying new biomarkers, which can help predict responses to specific treatments, and for detecting potential therapeutic targets for cancer.

With this expansion, DepMap becomes a more comprehensive resource for studying the characteristics of tumor cells and enables researchers to select the most appropriate model for the research they are conducting. “Bringing together data from models of different tumor types is very important for advancing more precise cancer research and identifying new treatment options for patients,” emphasizes Dr Eva Colás, co-head of Biomedical Research in Gynaecology group at VHIR.