2020/02/18 by Federica Invrea, Roberta Rovito, Erica Torchiaro +4
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Engineering · Medicine · #3D Printing in Biomedical Research #Cancer Cells and Metastasis #Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2020.01.003
openalex publication_date 2020/02/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) are obtained by transplanting fragments of a patient's tumour into immunodeficient mice. Growth and propagation of PDXs allows correlating therapeutic response in vivo with extensive, multi-dimensional molecular annotation, leading to identification of predictive biomarkers. PDXs are increasingly recognised as clinically relevant models of cancer for several reasons, of which the main is the possibility of studying the behaviour of cancer cells in a natural microenvironment, where they interact with stromal components accrued from the mouse host. PDXs maintain close similarities with the tumour of origin, in terms of tissue architecture, molecular features and response to treatments. Indeed, preclinical trials in PDXs have been shown to match and also anticipate data obtained in patients. Exploration of more complex processes like metastatic evolution and antitumour immune responses is actively pursued with PDXs, as new generations of host models emerge on the horizon.
