Salivary gland organoids to treat radiotherapy – induced xerostomia

Severe hyposalivation and consequential xerostomia (dry mouth syndrome) are common, often irreversible side effects of radiotherapy treatment for head-and-neck cancer. Xerostomia severely hampers the quality of affected patients' lives. Currently, no successful treatment exists. The aim was to develop a stem cell therapy to treat radiation-induced hyposalivation.

First, we developed methods to culture murine and patient-specific tissue resembling salivary gland-derived organoids (SGO). These SGOs contain all the glandular lineages and can extensively self-renew and rescue salivary gland function upon (xeno-)transplantation. Subsequently, we developed a GMP-compliant protocol for isolating and expanding human-derived salivary gland organoids derived from patient submandibular gland biopsies taken before radiotherapy treatment with an efficiency comparable to current non-GMP research-based protocols. The functionality of salivary gland-derived cells is maintained after cryopreservation, allowing the protocol to be adapted to the patient's radiotherapy treatment schedule. This presentation will show the developmental path to the first in human application of autologous organoid-derived cell transplantation in head and neck cancer patients. The first preliminary results will be presented.

Supported by the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF) and The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw).

Speaker: Rob P. Coppes, the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)