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Gürgen D, Becker M, Dahlmann M, Flechsig S, Schaeffeler E, Büttner FA, Schmees C, Bohnert R, Bedke J, Schwab M, Wendler JJ, Schostak M, Jandrig B, Walther W, Hoffmann J. A Molecularly Characterized Preclinical Platform of Subcutaneous Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) Patient-Derived Xenograft Models to Evaluate Novel Treatment Strategies. Front Oncol 2022; 12:889789. [PMID: 35800063 PMCID: PMC9254864 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.889789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a kidney cancer with an onset mainly during the sixth or seventh decade of the patient’s life. Patients with advanced, metastasized RCC have a poor prognosis. The majority of patients develop treatment resistance towards Standard of Care (SoC) drugs within months. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the backbone of first-line therapy and have been partnered with an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) recently. Despite the most recent progress, the development of novel therapies targeting acquired TKI resistance mechanisms in advanced and metastatic RCC remains a high medical need. Preclinical models with high translational relevance can significantly support the development of novel personalized therapies. It has been demonstrated that patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models represent an essential tool for the preclinical evaluation of novel targeted therapies and their combinations. In the present project, we established and molecularly characterized a comprehensive panel of subcutaneous RCC PDX models with well-conserved molecular and pathological features over multiple passages. Drug screening towards four SoC drugs targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and PI3K/mTOR pathway revealed individual and heterogeneous response profiles in those models, very similar to observations in patients. As unique features, our cohort includes PDX models from metastatic disease and multi-tumor regions from one patient, allowing extended studies on intra-tumor heterogeneity (ITH). The PDX models are further used as basis for developing corresponding in vitro cell culture models enabling advanced high-throughput drug screening in a personalized context. PDX models were subjected to next-generation sequencing (NGS). Characterization of cancer-relevant features including driver mutations or cellular processes was performed using mutational and gene expression data in order to identify potential biomarker or treatment targets in RCC. In summary, we report a newly established and molecularly characterized panel of RCC PDX models with high relevance for translational preclinical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis Gürgen
- Experimental Pharmacology and Oncology Berlin-Buch GmbH (EPO), Berlin, Germany
- *Correspondence: Dennis Gürgen, ; orcid.org/0000-0001-9241-6537
| | - Michael Becker
- Experimental Pharmacology and Oncology Berlin-Buch GmbH (EPO), Berlin, Germany
| | - Mathias Dahlmann
- Experimental Pharmacology and Oncology Berlin-Buch GmbH (EPO), Berlin, Germany
| | - Susanne Flechsig
- Experimental Pharmacology and Oncology Berlin-Buch GmbH (EPO), Berlin, Germany
| | - Elke Schaeffeler
- Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Stuttgart, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180) “Image-Guided and Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies”, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Tübingen, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Florian A. Büttner
- Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Christian Schmees
- Natural and Medical Sciences Institute (NMI) at the University of Tübingen, Reutlingen, Germany
| | - Regina Bohnert
- Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Jens Bedke
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Tübingen, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Urology, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Matthias Schwab
- Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Stuttgart, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180) “Image-Guided and Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies”, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Partner Site Tübingen, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- Departments of Clinical Pharmacology, and Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Johann J. Wendler
- Department of Urology, University Medical Center Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Martin Schostak
- Department of Urology, University Medical Center Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Burkhard Jandrig
- Department of Urology, University Medical Center Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Walther
- Experimental Pharmacology and Oncology Berlin-Buch GmbH (EPO), Berlin, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC) Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Jens Hoffmann
- Experimental Pharmacology and Oncology Berlin-Buch GmbH (EPO), Berlin, Germany
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