Silvia Valtorta1,2, Massimo Moro3, Giovanna Prisinzano1,4, Giulia Bertolini3, Monica Tortoreto5, Isabella Raccagni2,4, Ugo Pastorino6, Luca Roz3, Gabriella Sozzi3, Rosa Maria Moresco7,4. 1. National Researches Council (CNR), Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology Institute (IBFM), Segrate, Italy. 2. Medicine and Surgery Department and Tecnomed Foundation, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy. 3. Tumor Genomics Unit, Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy. 4. Experimental Imaging Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy. 5. Molecular Pharmacology Unit, Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy; and. 6. Thoracic Surgery Unit, Surgery Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy. 7. Medicine and Surgery Department and Tecnomed Foundation, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy luca.roz@istitutotumori.mi.it.
Abstract
Lung cancer heterogeneity makes response to therapy extremely hard to predict. Patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) are a reliable preclinical model that closely recapitulates the main characteristics of the parental tumors and may represent a useful asset for testing new therapies. Here, using PET imaging, we investigated whether lung cancer PDXs reproduce the metabolic characteristics of the corresponding parental tumors. METHODS: We performed longitudinal 18F-FDG PET studies on 9 different PDX groups obtained by implanting primary-cancer fragments harvested from patients into mice. The SUVmax of each PDX was calculated and compared with the SUVmax of the corresponding parental tumor. RESULTS: Tumor growth rate and uptake varied among the different PDXs and confirmed the preservation of individual characteristics. The intragroup reproducibility of PET measurements was good. Furthermore, PDXs from tumors with a higher metabolic rate displayed a rank order of uptake similar to that of the parental tumors. CONCLUSION: PDXs reproduced the glucose metabolism of the parental tumors and therefore represent a promising preclinical model for the early assessment of therapy efficacy.
Lung cancer heterogeneity makes response to therapy extremely hard to predict. Patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) are a reliable preclinical model that closely recapitulates the main characteristics of the parental tumors and may represent a useful asset for testing new therapies. Here, using PET imaging, we investigated whether lung cancer PDXs reproduce the metabolic characteristics of the corresponding parental tumors. METHODS: We performed longitudinal 18F-FDG PET studies on 9 different PDX groups obtained by implanting primary-cancer fragments harvested from patients into mice. The SUVmax of each PDX was calculated and compared with the SUVmax of the corresponding parental tumor. RESULTS:Tumor growth rate and uptake varied among the different PDXs and confirmed the preservation of individual characteristics. The intragroup reproducibility of PET measurements was good. Furthermore, PDXs from tumors with a higher metabolic rate displayed a rank order of uptake similar to that of the parental tumors. CONCLUSION: PDXs reproduced the glucose metabolism of the parental tumors and therefore represent a promising preclinical model for the early assessment of therapy efficacy.