Interrogating open issues in cancer precision medicine with patient-derived xenografts
Cet article analyse les différents concepts méthodologiques d'obtention de xénogreffes dérivées de tumeurs de patients, l'intérêt de ces xénogreffes pour étudier l'hétérogénéité intrinsèque et la résistance thérapeutique de différents types de tumeur, leur utilité dans la prise de décision clinique, la découverte de biomarqueurs prédictifs et pronostiques ainsi que leur rôle dans les projets de recherche collaborative
Patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) have emerged as an important platform to elucidate new treatments and biomarkers in oncology. PDX models are used to address clinically relevant questions, including the contribution of tumour heterogeneity to therapeutic responsiveness, the patterns of cancer evolutionary dynamics during tumour progression and under drug pressure, and the mechanisms of resistance to treatment. The ability of PDX models to predict clinical outcomes is being improved through mouse humanization strategies and the implementation of co-clinical trials, within which patients and PDXs reciprocally inform therapeutic decisions. This Opinion article discusses aspects of PDX modelling that are relevant to these questions and highlights the merits of shared PDX resources to advance cancer medicine from the perspective of EurOPDX, an international initiative devoted to PDX-based research.
Nature Reviews Cancer , résumé, 2016