2026/03/01 by Suidong Wang, Yiran Li, Wei Wu +4 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Immunology and Microbiology · Medicine · #Cancer Cells and Metastasis #Cancer Research and Treatments #Immune cells in cancer
paper · doi:10.1177/09636897261433327
openalex publication_date 2026/03/01 · openalex created_date 2026/03/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Metastatic colorectal cancers (mCRCs) exhibit substantial heterogeneity at the genetic, transcriptomic, histological, and microenvironmental levels, which contributes to therapeutic resistance and variable clinical outcomes. Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) and patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) have emerged as powerful platforms for modeling this complex disease. PDOs faithfully recapitulate tumor architecture, molecular features, and heterogeneity, enabling high-throughput drug screening and personalized treatment response prediction. In addition, PDX models maintain tumor–stroma interactions in vivo and accurately reflect histological and pharmacological phenotypes, supporting studies on treatment response and resistance mechanisms. Recent advances indicate that these models capture intratumoral, intertumoral, and interpatient variability; reveal patterns and mechanisms of drug sensitivity heterogeneity; and can be used to predict chemotherapy efficacy. However, limitations remain for both model types. Innovations such as humanized PDX mouse models and immune‒organoid coculture systems are being developed to overcome these barriers. This review summarizes the latest progress in PDO and PDX applications in research on mCRC heterogeneity, highlights their role in dissecting tumor heterogeneity, and discusses future directions for integrating these models into precision oncology.