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Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer characterized by diffuse infiltration. Infiltrated glioma cells persist in the brain post-resection where they interact with glial cells and experience interstitial fluid flow. We use patient-derived glioma stem cells and human glial cells (i.e., astrocytes and microglia) to create a four-component 3D model of this environment informed by resected patient tumors. We examine metrics for invasion, proliferation, and putative stemness in the context of glial cells, fluid forces, and chemotherapies. While the responses are heterogeneous across seven patient-derived lines, interstitial flow significantly increases glioma cell proliferation and stemness while glial cells affect invasion and stemness, potentially related to CCL2 expression and differential activation. In a screen of six drugs, we find in vitro expression of putative stemness marker CD71, but not viability at drug IC

Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer characterized by diffuse infiltration. Infiltrated glioma cells persist in the brain post-resection where they interact with glial cells and experience interstitial fluid flow. We recreate this infiltrative microenvironment in vitro based on resected patient tumors and examine malignancy metrics (invasion, proliferation, and stemness) in the context of cellular and biophysical factors and therapies. Our 3D tissue-engineered model comprises patient-derived glioma stem cells, human astrocytes and microglia, and interstitial fluid flow. We found flow contributes to all outcomes across seven patient-derived lines, and glial effects are driven by CCL2 and differential glial activation. We conducted a six-drug screen using four outcomes and find expression of putative stemness marker CD71, opposed to viability IC50, significantly predicts murine xenograft survival. Our results dispute the paradigm of viability as predictive of drug efficacy. We posit this patient-centric, infiltrative tumor model is a novel advance towards translational personalized medicine.