In a study on ovarian cancer cells, researchers from Karolinska Institutet demonstrate how the tumor environment influences how cancer cells respond to drugs by using AI. The study has been published in the journal Communications Biology.

The cancer cells were cultured together with fibroblasts, a type of support cell, and treated with different drugs. Advanced computer programs were used to analyze images of the cancer cells to see how they changed. Fibroblasts play an important role in the tumor microenvironment. They can promote tumor growth, spread, and drug resistance, as well as affect the immune system.

“Our study shows that ovarian cancer cells cultured together with fibroblasts change their appearance when treated with drugs. This demonstrates how the tumor environment influences how cancer cells respond to drugs,” says Osheen Sharma, Ph.D. student at the Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, and the study’s first author.