Highlights the development by the emerging field of regenerative medicine of bioengineered tissue platforms that best mimic the structure and cellular heterogeneity of in vivo tissueDetails how microengineering technologies have resulted in advanced methods for creating and culturing 3-D human tissue--resulting in viability for longer periods of timeExplores the potential of bioengineering and microengineering to aid in overcoming limitations to genetic and histological tumor classification and the development of personalized therapies