Forty-five patient-derived xenografts capture the clinical and biological heterogeneity of Wilms tumor

Nat Commun. 2019 Dec 20;10(1):5806. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13646-9.

Abstract

The lack of model systems has limited the preclinical discovery and testing of therapies for Wilms tumor (WT) patients who have poor outcomes. Herein, we establish 45 heterotopic WT patient-derived xenografts (WTPDX) in CB17 scid-/- mice that capture the biological heterogeneity of Wilms tumor (WT). Among these 45 total WTPDX, 6 from patients with diffuse anaplastic tumors, 9 from patients who experienced disease relapse, and 13 from patients with bilateral disease are included. Early passage WTPDX show evidence of clonal selection, clonal evolution and enrichment of blastemal gene expression. Favorable histology WTPDX are sensitive, whereas unfavorable histology WTPDX are resistant to conventional chemotherapy with vincristine, actinomycin-D, and doxorubicin given singly or in combination. This WTPDX library is a unique scientific resource that retains the spectrum of biological heterogeneity present in WT and provides an essential tool to test targeted therapies for WT patient groups with poor outcomes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / pharmacology*
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use
  • Clonal Evolution*
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / genetics*
  • Exome Sequencing
  • Humans
  • Kidney Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Kidney Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Kidney Neoplasms / pathology
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, SCID
  • Wilms Tumor / drug therapy
  • Wilms Tumor / genetics*
  • Wilms Tumor / pathology
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays