(ABC 6 News) – Mayo Clinic’s organoids, microscopic versions of organs that function like the real ones, have been used by doctors to study conditions like inflammatory bowel disease and test treatments without directly affecting a patient. A new branch of research, though, is building in another field: eye cancer.

Ten years ago, Ross Wither, a stay-at-home dad from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, began noticing white flashes in his right eye that began taking over his vision.

It was only back in August, however, when we discovered what was causing it – a detached retina caused by a tumor.

It was uveal melanoma, a rare type of cancer that mimics skin cancer and is difficult to treat and can quickly shift to other parts of the body.

“When this first happens, it’s such a rare cancer that nobody talks about,” Wither said. “I didn’t even know it was possible to get skin cancer in your eye.”

Initially, he was set up to receive the standard treatment for uveal melanoma, a radiation treatment localized over his eye.

A respiratory infection delayed the surgery, but it also opened up an alternative.

Since then, Wither has been undergoing a clinical trial for a new drug at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

In just a couple months, the drug has already shrunk his tumor by over 40%.

At the same time, his doctor, Lauren Dalvin an ophthalmologist, has been working on research with organoid versions of tumors like Wither’s.

She says they could make creating and testing new treatments like the one he’s on even faster; potentially, without needing human test subjects.

“My dream goal for these organoids someday is that we will be using them for personalized drug screening where we actually have a patient and in real time we can feedback to them, this is going to be the right drug for you to take,” Dr. Dalvin said.

Compared to other organoid research, however, Dr. Dalvin’s work is still in its infancy.

It’ll be some time before it can get to that personalized screening, but she says the progress Mayo is making in the labs is very promising.

As for Wither, he’s been blogging about his journey to help spread awareness of his condition and hopefully give someone an answer they may be looking for.

You can check that out here.