Abstract 2343: Establishment of patients’ primary non-small cell lung cancer xenograft models for test of anticancer drugs

Abstract

Abstract BACKGROUND Human xenograft tumor models established by transplantation of human tumor cell lines into immunodifficient mice have been routinely used for preclinical test of anticancer agents. But tumor cell lines have a relatively low transplantability and resulted in a limited number of tumor models available for selection of right models for preclinical testing novel agents based on their antitumor mechanism. Recently, we have developed a large number of patient primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) xenograft models by transplanting patients’ fresh tumor tissues into nude mice, which have been employed for preclinical test of anticancer agents. METHODS The fresh NSCLC tissues were collected from local hospitals. The tumor fragments of 1-2 mm were subcutaneously implanted in the flanks of the nude mice by trocar needle. Sixteen tumor fragments were grafted into four mice from one patient tumor tissue (passage 1). All therapeutic efficacy experiments used female mice bearing passage 5 xenografts. The test drugs included cisplatin, carboplatin, paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, tarceva, and iressa. RESULTS A total of 142 patient primary NSCLC samples were implanted into nude mice, and 71 primary tumor models were established with a tumor taking rate of 50% for the first passage. The tumor taking rates were higher (80-100) in the later passages. The therapeutic efficacy of the test drugs in these models is consistent with their clinical findings. The histopathology and gene sequence of the established primary tumor xenografts were analyzed; their architecture, histopathological morphology, and genomic mutation status from five generations of xenografts retained the patients’ original tumor characteristics. CONCLUSIONS The patient primary NSCLC models have been employed for preclinical test of standard clinically used and novel anticancer agents. The primary tumor models retain a similarity in histology and genomic mutation status to their patients’ original tumors. They may predict more relevant clinical response rate and higher correlation with clinical findings than use of traditional xenograft models established from long-term cultured cancer cell lines. Especially, they have advantages for test of target-oriented therapeutics in new drugs development programs. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2343. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2343