title: Histologic and molecular analysis of patient derived xenografts of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patient derived xenografts (PDX) are generated by transplanting the original patient's tumor tissue into immune-deficient mice. Unlike xenograft models derived from cell lines, PDX models can better preserve the histopathology from the original patient and molecular pathways. High-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) is a deadly form of ovarian/fallopian tube cancer whose response to current chemotherapies varies widely due to patient variability. Therefore, a PDX model can provide a valuable tool to study and test treatment options for each individual patient.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, over 200 PDX tumors from nine HGSC were analyzed to investigate the nature and behavior of PDX tumors originating from HGSC. PDX tumors were serially passaged (from P0 to P4) and tumors were grafted orthotopically under the ovarian bursa or subcutaneously.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Comparative analysis of the histology and molecular markers of tumors from over 200 PDX tumor-bearing mice, revealed that the tumors maintained similar histologies, stem cell populations, and expression for the majority of the tested oncogenic markers, compared to the primary tumors. However, a significant loss of steroid hormone receptors and altered expression of immunoresponsive genes in PDX tumors were also noted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings provide substantial new information about PDX tumor characteristics from HGSC which will be valuable towards the development of personalized therapy and new drug development for HGSC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Feinberg 7-334, 251 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, 107 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China.
authors.forename: Ruifen
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Feinberg 7-334, 251 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Wenan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qiang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genetics, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Haiyang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Feinberg 7-334, 251 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, 107 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China.
authors.forename: Xiaofei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: J Julie
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Feinberg School of Medicine and Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazar
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, 107 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China. kongbeihua@sdu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Beihua
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Feinberg 7-334, 251 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA. jianjun-wei@northwestern.edu.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA. jianjun-wei@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Jian-Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wei
keywords: High-grade serous carcinoma; Immunohistochemistry; Intrabursal engraft histology; Patient-derived xenograft