Transforming cancer treatment: integrating patient-derived organoids and CRISPR screening for precision medicine

The persistently high mortality rates associated with cancer underscore the imperative need for innovative, efficacious, and safer therapeutic agents, as well as a more nuanced understanding of tumor biology. Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) have emerged as innovative preclinical models with significant translational potential, capable of accurately recapitulating the structural, functional, and heterogeneous characteristics of primary tumors. When integrated with cutting-edge genomic tools such as CRISPR, PDOs provide a powerful platform for identifying cancer driver genes and novel therapeutic targets. This comprehensive review delves into recent advancements in CRISPR-mediated functional screens leveraging PDOs across diverse cancer types, highlighting their pivotal role in high-throughput functional genomics and tumor microenvironment (TME) modeling. Furthermore, this review highlights the synergistic potential of integrating PDOs with CRISPR screens in cancer immunotherapy, focusing on uncovering immune evasion mechanisms and improving the efficacy of immunotherapeutic approaches. Together, these cutting-edge technologies offer significant promise for advancing precision oncology.