Establishment and Characterization of Patient-Derived Xenograft Model of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Derived from Malignant Pleural Effusions.

PURPOSE

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises approximately 80% of all lung malignancies. The 5-year survival rate of patients with advanced lung cancer who lost their chances of surgery is approximately 15%. Suitable animal models are important in screening individualized treatment plans for patients with lung cancer, evaluating the pre-clinical efficacy of new drugs, and conducting basic research.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In this study, we collected malignant pleural effusion (MPE) samples from 31 patients with NSCLC, successfully constructed 11 NSCLC patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), and analyzed the factors affecting their successful establishment. Primary PDX tumors were characterized using histological analysis, immunohistochemistry, short tandem repeat (STR) profiling, and cytogenetic analysis.

RESULTS

The PDXs preserved the histopathology and protein expression pattern of parental tumors. STR analysis revealed the PDX tissue and a tumor tissue of the same individual origin. Statistical analysis showed that the survival time of patients reflected the malignant degree of MPEs to a certain extent, thus affecting the establishment of PDXs. However, the age, gender, and clinical and biochemical indicators of the patients did not affect the establishment of PDX models.

CONCLUSION

These data suggest that the established NSCLC PDXs preserved the molecular characteristics of primary lung cancer and can serve as a new tool to elucidate the pathogenesis of tumors, explore new treatment methods, and conduct the research and development of new drugs for tumors.