Patient-derived organoids potentiate precision medicine in advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma

To investigate the role of patient-derived organoid (PDO) model in the precision medicine of advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), we retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of seven cases of ccRCC diagnosed by operation and pathology in Renji Hospital from September 2021 to September 2022. The seven patients were diagnosed with advanced ccRCC with or without remote metastasis. Cytoreductive and radical nephrectomy was performed respectively. To predict the response to immunotherapy and provide personalized medicine recommendation, a PDO model based on air-liquid interface system was established from the surgical resected tumor and subsequent drug screening was performed. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and immunohistochemistry revealed that the PDO recapitulated the histological feature of parent tumor. Immunofluorescence staining identified that CD3(+) T cells, SMA(+) cancer associated fibroblasts, and CD31(+) endothelial cells were preserved in PDO models. Fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) revealed an evidently increased ratio of CD8(+)/CD4(+) T cells and apoptotic tumor cells in PDO treated with toripalimab than those treated with IgG4. The results showed that toripalimab is able to rescue the excessive death of CD8(+) T cells by critically reversing the immune exhaustion state of ccRCC in PDO model. This research validated that PDO is a promising and faithful preclinical model for prediction of immunotherapy response in patients with ccRCC.