Patient-Derived Xenografts: A Powerful Tool for Breast Cancer Research and Beyond

Less than 10% of investigational anti-cancer drugs successfully achieve approval for clinical use by the FDA. This is not necessarily due to the lack of activity of the compound, but is instead due to a failure to identify patients whose tumors are most likely to respond. Recent research has focused on developing new models that better recapitulate what can be seen in the clinic. One group of such models is the patient-derived xenografts (PDXs).

PDXs are established by directly implanting tumor tissue into an immunocompromised host, most commonly mice, without intermittent passaging of the cells in culture. Increasing evidence indicated that these PDXs not only faithfully conserve biological features of the parental malignancies but also show sensitivity/resistance to the same therapeutic agents. Well-characterized PDX models, with accompanying genome sequencing and gene expression data, can help researchers elucidate mechanisms of action of their lead compound. The molecular/mutational signature present in sensitive versus resistant tumors can further be used to generate improved inclusion/exclusion criteria in future clinical trials.

Envigo offers access to over 100 highly-characterized breast cancer PDX models representing all major subtypes through its licensed WHIM (Washington University Human in Mouse) collection from Washington University. This collection of breast cancer tumors offer investigators a powerful tool to test novel drugs in a model where the clinical history of the patient and the mutational landscape of both the parental and PDX tumor is known. The newest addition to this collection includes PDXs established from ER+, pRb+ tumors displaying resistance to the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib, providing an exclusive opportunity to investigate what compounds or combinations might be efficacious in patients with tumors displaying this resistant phenotype.

In this webinar, our featured speaker will discuss the following:

• What constitutes a patient-derived xenograft and how they are established
• Why PDX models are more translatable than cell-line-derived models
• How well-characterized PDX models can help drive drug discovery and clinical success

Speaker

E. Viktoria Hyddmark, Senior Scientist, Envigo

E. Viktoria Hyddmark received her PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Florida in 2016 where she trained under the mentorship of Drs. Ghivizzani and Gibbs. She then did a postdoc in the lab of Dr. Thomas Tedder in the department of pediatric allergy and immunology at Duke University. She joined the in vivo business unit at Horizon Discovery, which was subsequently acquired by Envigo, in 2019 as a Senior Scientist.

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