Tumor Grafts Derived from Women with Breast Cancer Authentically Reflect Tumor Pathology, Growth, Metastasis and Disease Outcomes

Overview

Journal Nat Med

Specialties General Medicine
Molecular Biology

Date 2011 Oct 25

PMID 22019887

Citations 579

Authors

Yoko S Derose

Guoying Wang

Yi-Chun Lin

Philip S Bernard

Saundra S Buys

Mark T W Ebbert

Rachel Factor

Cindy Matsen

Brett A Milash

Edward Nelson

Leigh Neumayer

R Lor Randall

Inge J Stijleman

Bryan E Welm

Alana L Welm

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Development and preclinical testing of new cancer therapies is limited by the scarcity of in vivo models that authentically reproduce tumor growth and metastatic progression. We report new models for breast tumor growth and metastasis in the form of transplantable tumors derived directly from individuals undergoing treatment for breast cancer. These tumor grafts illustrate the diversity of human breast cancer and maintain essential features of the original tumors, including metastasis to specific sites. Co-engraftment of primary human mesenchymal stem cells maintains phenotypic stability of the grafts and increases tumor growth by promoting angiogenesis. We also report that tumor engraftment is a prognostic indicator of disease outcome for women with newly diagnosed breast cancer; orthotopic breast tumor grafting is a step toward individualized models for tumor growth, metastasis and prognosis. This bank of tumor grafts also serves as a publicly available resource for new models in which to study the biology of breast cancer.

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