cells Review Ex Vivo Culture Models to Indicate Therapy Response in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Imke Demers 1, Johan Donkers 2 , Bernd Kremer 2 and Ernst Jan Speel 1,* 1 Department of Pathology, GROW-school for Oncology and Development Biology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, PO Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands;
[email protected] 2 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, GROW-School for Oncology and Development Biology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, PO Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands;
[email protected] (J.D.);
[email protected] (B.K.) * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +31-43-3874610 Received: 23 October 2020; Accepted: 20 November 2020; Published: 23 November 2020 Abstract: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is characterized by a poor 5 year survival and varying response rates to both standard-of-care and new treatments. Despite advances in medicine and treatment methods, mortality rates have hardly decreased in recent decades. Reliable patient-derived tumor models offer the chance to predict therapy response in a personalized setting, thereby improving treatment efficacy by identifying the most appropriate treatment regimen for each patient. Furthermore, ex vivo tumor models enable testing of novel therapies before introduction in clinical practice. A literature search was performed to identify relevant literature describing three-dimensional ex vivo culture models of HNSCC to examine sensitivity to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy. We provide a comprehensive overview of the currently used three-dimensional ex vivo culture models for HNSCC with their advantages and limitations, including culture success percentage and comparison to the original tumor.