The tumor microenvironment is a dynamic system consisting of extracellular matrix remodeling, immune infiltration, and other processes that influence tumor progression. Tumor cells sense and adapt to their microenvironment, modulating growth and invasiveness. It is necessary to mimic this environment to improve therapeutic efficacy and increase the likelihood of patient success to treatment.

Cypre’s technologies focus on engineering tumor microenvironments in the third dimension, as opposed to the conventional two-dimensional (2D) cell culture. The tumor extracellular matrix can take many forms, compositionally and structurally. Cypre is meeting this challenge by customizing the 3D conditions of the cellular environment according to the particular cancer subtype.

INTEGRATED DRUG DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING

Cypre has developed an integrated process that includes building the cell-based tumor microenvironment in vitro, treating the system with cancer therapeutics, and performing analysis with a variety of readouts. We use our intimate knowledge of cancer biology for discovery and development of new drugs that may target the microenvironment. We are also developing diagnostic tests that can be used by oncologists to determine the most effective treatments for individual patients, and thus enable personalized medicine.