Polysaccharide-Based Hydrogels for Bioengineering 3D Tumor Models

Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide and its incidence is expected to rise. Despite overwhelming efforts to design innovative preclinical models that faithfully replicate disease ex vivo, some of them still lack central players in the tumor microenvironment (TME). The extracellular matrix (ECM), a major component of the TME, has a profound impact on cancer cells’ behavior and overall disease progression. Hydrogels hold great promise as tools for the in vitro modeling of tumors, as their versatility allows for the design of 3D cellular microenvironments with tunable biochemical/physical properties that mimic important features of the ECM. Thus, the use of engineered ECM-like hydrogels has been successfully translated into cancer research, providing improved 3D models to study tumor biology and response to therapy. This chapter provides an overview of 3D in vitro models for cancer research, with a focus on the use of polysaccharide-based bioengineered hydrogels as artificial ECMs.