Animal models for modeling pancreatic cancer and novel drug discovery.

INTRODUCTION: Despite the introduction of novel therapeutic regimens for advanced stages of pancreatic cancer, long-term survival and overall outcome for patients are still very poor. Suitable small animal models are a prerequisite for better understanding of underlying pathophysiology and for translational studies designed to uncover novel therapeutic targets and to evaluate therapy regimens on a preclinical level. Areas covered: Genetically engineered mouse models as well as syngenic and xenotransplantation models are summarized and critically discussed with respect to their value for pancreatic cancer translational research. Expert opinion: Mouse models of pancreatic cancer represent a valuable tool for translational studies and are indispensable in order to develop novel potent drugs against pancreatic cancer. More complex genetically engineered mouse models are being developed to cover the complex genomic alterations found in human pancreatic cancers and to enable studies correlating genotype with response to specific therapeutic interventions. Another promising area of research in this field is the refinement and further development of humanized patient-derived xenograft models.