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Abstract Brain cancers remain some of the most challenging tumors to treat. The goal of our research is to use a 3D in vitro model to acquire in-depth understanding of the unique environment of brain tumors in order to find new biomarkers of disease and develop more efficient therapeutic approaches. Glioblastomas (GBM) present a very poor prognosis, they exhibit high infiltration into brain parenchyma, impairing surgical resection and leading to recurrence. The recurrent tumor is predominantly more aggressive and resistant to available therapeutic strategies. Brain extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a key role in glioblastoma invasion and therapeutic resistance. In particular, the aberrant biosynthesis of the main component of brain ECM, hyaluronic acid (HA), has been associated to pathological conditions. We investigate the influence of tumor extracellular microenvironment in glioblastoma progression. We focus on the tumor-associated HA biosynthesis in response to biophysical alterations, such as hypoxia and stiffness, and after radio and chemotherapeutic interventions. The ability to manipulate tumor ECM can improve therapeutic outcomes and restrict glioblastoma growth and infiltration. Citation Format: Joseph Mueller, Ryan Yao, Kim Selting, Catherine Best-Popescu, Brendan Harley, Sara Pedron-Haba. Engineered systems for tumor modeling facilitate the assessment of theraputic interventions abstract. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Brain Cancer; 2023 Oct 19-22; Minneapolis, Minnesota. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84 (5 Suppl₁): Abstract nr A045.
Mueller et al. (Mon,) studied this question.