Patient Derived Xenografts (PDX) for personalized treatment of pancreatic cancer: emerging allies in the war on a devastating cancer?

The prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the eighth most lethal cancer for men and ninth for women worldwide, remains dismal. The increasing rates of deaths by PDAC indicate that the overall management of the disease in 21st century is still insufficient. Thus it is obvious that there is an unmet need to improve management of PDAC by finding new biomarkers to screen high risk patients, confirm diagnosis, and predict response to treatment as well more efficacious and safer treatments. Patient Derived Xenografts (PDX) have been developed as a new promising tool in an effort to mirror genetics, tumor heterogeneity and cancer microenvironment of the primary tumor. Herein we aim to give an updated overview of the current status and the perspectives of PDX in the search for the identification of novel biomarkers and improved therapeutic outcomes for PDAC but also their use as a valuable tool towards individualized treatments to improve the outcome of the disease. Furthermore, we critically review the applications, advantages, limitations, and perspectives of PDX in the research towards an improved management of PDAC. SIGNIFICANCE: This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current status and the potential role as well as the challenges of PDX in the road to fight one of the most lethal cancers in the developed countries, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.