Patient-derived xenografts in oncology

Abstract

Cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide. In 2012, approximately 14 million new cases and about eight million cancer-related deaths were reported. In the United States, it is estimated that approximately 1,685,210 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and 595,690 people will die from the disease (www.cancer.gov). Scientists for many years have been investigating cancer biology in an attempt to understand its development, mechanisms of progression and identify therapeutic agents to treat malignancies arising from various tissues. Animal models have long been used to investigate cancer biology providing an avenue to explore therapeutic efficacy of anti-cancer drugs and/or contribution of the immune system to tumor immunity. There are many models, ranging from in vitro culture systems utilizing human cell lines, to genetically engineered mouse models harboring specific genetic alterations, to mouse allograft models, to patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. These existing investigational platforms vary in terms of their potential to recapitulate cancer biology as seen in patients [1, 2].