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Organoids
Organoids are self-organizing, ever-expanding 3D cell cultures that can be derived from human tissues. They are useful for cancer research and therapy development as they mimic many aspects of normal physiology and disease phenotypes, including genetic profiles. These mini-tumors can be grown, in tissue-specific culture medium, directly from healthy donors or (cancer) patients.
Prior to the development of organoids, representative pre-clinical models of pediatric cancer were scarce or not available at all hampering therapeutic innovation. Organoids have proven to be a real game-changer in adult and pediatric cancer.
We work smartly and strategically with various project partners to develop better cancer treatments faster.
Organoid models allow for clinically relevant screening of the efficacy of therapeutic candidates.
Jump straight to available organoid models Resources
The Organoids Platform within the Oncode Accelerator program is establishing genetically and histologically characterized organoid biobanks for adult and pediatric indications. These models are made available to our partners through Demonstrator Projects. Depending on your needs, you can choose between classical organoids and organ(oid)-on-a-chip technologies.
Through the well-defined Patient Cohorts Platform, a subset of the models is linked to associated clinical data and materials, anonymized and obtained with patient consent. In this way, organoids allow for screening therapeutic candidates, evaluating their effectiveness, and identifying patient populations most likely to benefit from therapy.
Interested in reading about adaptive clinical trials, where the Patient Cohorts and Organoids Platforms meet?
Solidify your cancer research with patient-derived organoid models through Oncode Accelerator.
Key to the success of the Oncode Accelerator program is the selection and execution of high-quality Demonstrator Projects which aim to both validate the Oncode Accelerator infrastructure while simultaneously addressing unmet medical needs. New partners can join the Oncode Accelerator Program with a Demonstrator Project to co-develop assets within one of our four preclinical development pipelines, so called Workstreams:
Together with our two other innovation Platforms (Patient Cohorts and Artificial Intelligence), the Organoids Platform aims to integrate innovative technology into the preclinical discovery and development infrastructure built and implemented within the Oncode Accelerator Workstreams.
The combination of our Workstreams and Platforms creates a synergistic effect, which should allow for earlier and more accurate predictions of the safety and effectiveness of newly developed therapies for specific patient groups, eventually resulting in better therapies tailored to individual patients or patient subgroups.
Karin Sanders, PhD, Associate Group Leader at the Clevers lab and head of Central Máxima Organoid Biobank during the Oncode Accelerator Summit in 2025
The Oncode Accelerator Organoids Platform supports cancer researchers and drug developers through Demonstrator Projects. Click on each arrow for more information.
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Why would I want to use organoids?
Organoid models can be used:
- For target identification, screening and/or risk stratification
- To evaluate the effectiveness of drug candidates
- To find the right patient population for optimal treatment (not available for all entities)
- Low-medium-high throughput screens (e.g. CRISPR, drug screens, etc.)
- High Throughput Phenotypic Screening
- Metastasis modelling
- Study tumor microenvironment (TME) interaction including vasculature, stroma and immune cells
- Immune cell migration assay
- Immune-oncology (IO) response prediction
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Which representative human cell model can I use?
Choose the model that suits your preclinical development needs.
We offer:
Classical organoids:
Adult stem cell derived organoids that maintain patient genotoype and functionality
OrganoPlate® (Organ(oid)-on-a-chip):
High Throughput Screenable, perfused human disease models. On-chip tumor organoids cultured in full tissue context including vascularization, stroma and immune system for TME, IO, CAR-T and metastasis studies.
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Why would this be of interest?
Organoids are patient-derived tissue models that show promise as being useful for improved therapy development, as they offer a unique opportunity to better understand the multicellular signaling networks and behaviors as they interact in the human body during the disease. In this way, organoids allow for screening therapeutic candidates, evaluating their effectiveness, and identifying patient populations most likely to benefit from therapy.
Our goal is for Demonstrator Project partners with a lead for one of the four drug types (Small Molecules, Biologics, Cell and Gene Therapy and Therapeutic Vaccines) to benefit from reduced cost and de-risked development of their candidates when using organoid technology.
Available Organoids:
a. Adult models*:
Our partner for adult Organoid models, the Utrecht Platform for Organoid Technology (UPORT, part of the UMC Utrecht) in collaboration with the Hubrecht Institute, provide the necessary infrastructure for acquisition of patient-derived tissues to generate organoids. This also includes legal, ethical and logistical frameworks.
| Tumor type | Tumor organoids available | Healthy associated organoids available |
| Yes (also metastases organoids) | Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
| Yes | No |
*Availability of Organoid models is subject to change. Additionally, not all models have undergone full characterization. Contact us to discuss availability and the level of characterization and patient cohort inclusion.
**Head and Neck includes tongue, larynx, salivary gland and oral cavity.
***Not fully established yet.
b. Pediatric models:
Pediatric models are currently under development by the Central Máxima Organoid Biobank (CMOB) of the Princess Máxima Center within the Organoids Platform. The CMOB will generate standard operating procedures for tumor entities that can be grown as organoids, and will biobank and characterize the established organoid lines.
The characterization includes immunohistochemistry, RNA-sequencing, whole genome sequencing, methylation array and clinical data. Below table provides more information on the specific indications for which organoids are being developed. Contact us to discuss availability and feasibility of these organoids.
| Tumor type | Healthy associated organoids available |
|---|---|
| Paired normal kidney organoids expected to be available for a small subset of lines |
| N/A |
| N/A |
| Paired normal liver organoids expected to be available for a small subset of lines |
| N/A |
| N/A |
c. Other possibilities:
The models listed here have been optimized and characterized in different ways for varying purposes, which may result in differences in other research questions. For tumor types not listed, we encourage you to contact us and schedule a consultation with Organoid Platform experts to explore additional options.
| Adult Models |
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| Pediatric Models | |
| Pediatric-type diffuse high-grade gliomas |
| Low-grade gliomas | |
CNS (central nervous system) embryonal tumors:
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| |
Contact us and learn more about the availability of our organoid models and organ(oid)-on-a-chip technology to apply in Demonstrator Projects.
Are you a researcher working on organoid technology yourself? We would like to get in touch to make your biobanked organoid models available as part of our centralized Organoids Platform biobank.
Oncode Accelerator is a dynamic collaboration of more than 35 public and private partners. The following consortium partners are part of the Organoids Platform.
Below is a curated selection of scientific publications by the Organoids Platform. Click on each publication to access the full text online.