Devices and methods for in vitro modeling of metastatic cancer

A method of assessing a response of one or more cancer colonies to a drug, the method comprising:

• providing one or more cell culture vessels comprising a plurality of substrates arranged in a compartmentalized manner, each substrate comprising a decellularized tissue-specific extracellular matrix derived from tissue of a different anatomical region;
• culturing cancer cells to form a cancer colony on each substrate, wherein the cancer cells are foreign to the tissue-specific extracellular matrix of at least one of the plurality of substrates, thereby forming at least one metastatic cancer colony;
• contacting each cancer colony with a drug;
• and
• assessing the response by each cancer colony to the drug.

A method of assessing cell migration of a primary cancer colony, the method comprising:

• providing one or more cell culture vessels comprising:
• a first substrate in a first compartment of the one or more cell culture vessels,
• one or more second substrates in one or more second compartments of the one or more cell culture vessels,
• wherein the first substrate and the one or more second substrates each comprise a decellularized tissue-specific extracellular matrix derived from tissue of a different anatomical region,
• wherein the first substrate and the one or more second substrates are arranged in a compartmentalized manner and in fluid communication through one or more fluidic channels;
• culturing cancer cells on the first substrate, wherein the cancer cells are native to the tissue-specific extracellular matrix of the first substrate, thereby forming the primary cancer colony,
• wherein the one or more fluidic channels are configured to permit cell migration from the first substrate to the one or more second substrates, wherein the cancer cells are adapted to form one or more metastatic cancer colonies on the one or more second substrates;
• and
• assessing the cell migration of the primary cancer colony from the first substrate to the one or more second substrates.