Mouse models of human cancer: Role in preclinical testing and personalized medicine

Abstract

In the last few decades, information about the human genome and the genetic landscape of human cancer has led to therapeutic strategies guided by specific genetic knowledge and executed with molecularly targeted drugs. The era of personalized medicine for cancer treatment is coming of age. Genetic knowledge leads to identification of potential drug targets that in turn is used to develop molecularly targeted therapies for cancer (see Chapter 28). Central to the pursuit of this approach are faithful mouse models of human cancer. As we discuss in this chapter, these models not only serve to define the critical and causal molecular events required for cancer, but they also provide powerful systems for preclinical testing of cancer drugs.