Patient-Derived Explants as a Precision Medicine Patient-Proximal Testing Platform Informing Cancer Management

Abby R Templeton; Penny L Jeffery; Patrick B Thomas; Mahasha P J Perera; Gary Ng; Alivia R Calabrese; Clarissa Nicholls; Nathan J Mackenzie; Jack Wood; Laura J Bray; Ian Vela; Erik W Thompson; Elizabeth D Williams

doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.767697

Patient-Derived Explants as a Precision Medicine Patient-Proximal Testing Platform Informing Cancer Management

Front Oncol. 2021 Dec 20:11:767697. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.767697. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Abby R Templeton^{1

2

3

4}, Penny L Jeffery^{1

2

3

4}, Patrick B Thomas^{1

2

3

4}, Mahasha P J Perera^{1

2

3

4

5}, Gary Ng^{2

6}, Alivia R Calabrese^{1

2

3

4}, Clarissa Nicholls^{1

2

3}, Nathan J Mackenzie^{1

2

3

4}, Jack Wood^{1

2

3}, Laura J Bray^{2

7

8}, Ian Vela^{1

2

3

4

5}, Erik W Thompson^{1

2}, Elizabeth D Williams^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ School of Biomedical Sciences at the Translational Research Institute (TRI), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
² Centre for Personalised Analysis of Cancers (CPAC), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
³ Queensland Bladder Cancer Initiative (QBCI), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁴ Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre - Queensland (APCRC-Q), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁵ Department of Urology, Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁶ Department of Medical Oncology, Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁷ School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁸ Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for Cell and Tissue Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Abstract

Precision medicine approaches that inform clinical management of individuals with cancer are progressively advancing. Patient-derived explants (PDEs) provide a patient-proximal ex vivo platform that can be used to assess sensitivity to standard of care (SOC) therapies and novel agents. PDEs have several advantages as a patient-proximal model compared to current preclinical models, as they maintain the phenotype and microenvironment of the individual tumor. However, the longevity of PDEs is not compatible with the timeframe required to incorporate candidate therapeutic options identified by whole exome sequencing (WES) of the patient's tumor. This review investigates how PDE longevity varies across tumor streams and how this is influenced by tissue preparation. Improving longevity of PDEs will enable individualized therapeutics testing, and thus contribute to improving outcomes for people with cancer.

Keywords: cancer; ex vivo; patient-derived explants; precision medicine; whole exome sequencing.

Publication types

Review