Papillary thyroid cancer organoids harboring BRAF(V600E) mutation reveal potentially beneficial effects of BRAF inhibitor-based combination therapies

BACKGROUNDS: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), which is often driven by acquired somatic mutations in BRAF genes, is the most common pathologic type of thyroid cancer. PTC has an excellent prognosis after treatment with conventional therapies such as surgical resection, thyroid hormone therapy and adjuvant radioactive iodine therapy. Unfortunately, about 20% of patients develop regional recurrence or distant metastasis, making targeted therapeutics an important treatment option. Current in vitro PTC models are limited in representing the cellular and mutational characteristics of parental tumors. A clinically relevant tool that predicts the efficacy of therapy for individuals is urgently needed. METHODS: Surgically removed PTC tissue samples were dissociated, plated into Matrigel, and cultured to generate organoids. PTC organoids were subsequently subjected to histological analysis, DNA sequencing, and drug sensitivity assays, respectively. RESULTS: We established 9 patient-derived PTC organoid models, 5 of which harbor BRAF(V600E) mutation. These organoids have been cultured stably for more than 3 months and closely recapitulated the histological architectures as well as mutational landscapes of the respective primary tumors. Drug sensitivity assays of PTC organoid cultures demonstrated the intra- and inter-patient specific drug responses. BRAF(V600E) inhibitors, vemurafenib and dabrafenib monotherapy was mildly effective in treating BRAF(V600E)-mutant PTC organoids. Nevertheless, BRAF inhibitors in combination with MEK inhibitors, RTK inhibitors, or chemotherapeutic agents demonstrated improved efficacy compared to BRAF inhibition alone. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that patient-derived PTC organoids may be a powerful research tool to investigate tumor biology and drug responsiveness, thus being useful to validate or discover targeted drug combinations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-022-03848-z.