Development of microfluidic based devices for studying tumour biology and evaluating treatment response in head and neck cancer biopsies

We report the novel use of a custom-made microfluidic based device to maintain biopsies of head and neck tumours in a viable state and quantify the effects of chemotherapy agents on these samples, with the aim of developing a personalised chemotherapy model. Using fresh and/or frozen samples, we measured cell viability via lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and WST-1 metabolism (cellular proliferation), evaluated preservation of tissue architecture by haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained cryostat sections and studied the effect of commonly used chemotherapy agents on cell death.