Table 5 Key points for establishing PDX-IM models in different tumors

Cholangiocarcinoma

The different genetic backgrounds of recipient mice correlated with transplantation rates

Breast cancer

1. The supplementation of estradiol and Matrigel is necessary;

2. The hormone-dependence is the major limiting factor;

3. The stable take rate of ER- significantly higher than that of ER⁺;

4. Presence of mouse host stroma is required for tumor growth;

5. ER expression was a major determinant of take rate

Pancreatic cancer

1. The differences of pearson correlations may be dependent on tumor type;

2. Tumor size was the significant factor related to successful PDX-IM generation;

3. The rates were higher, when the NOD/SCID or NSG mice were employed

Gastric cancer

1. Prior chemotherapy may reduce the engraftment achievement ratio;

2. Biopsies prior to chemotherapy had a higher transplantation rate than biopsies after chemotherapy;

3. The more severe immunodeficient species may offer a superior platform;

4. GC tissues from male patients or of intestinal subtype were easier to grow up in mice;

5. Ex vivo time and overall procedure time were the significant

Colorectal cancer

1. The epithelial subtypes, the largest subgroups of CRC subtype, were very ineffective in establishing PDX-IMs;

2. The major subtype CMS2 is strongly underrepresented in PDX-IM;

3. Micro tumor tissues with sizes ˂ 150 μm in diameter were more fitted to maintain the tumor microenvironment

Lung cancer

1. The engraftment can be affected by the histological subtype, the immune microenvironment, and the lymphoma formation;

2. Positive engraftment correlating with shorter disease-free survival in a multivariate analysis including age, sex, stage, and mutations;

3. The main deterrent in engraftment success is likely tumor cellularity in these small TBNA samples

Ovarian cancer

1. The quality of patient tumor tissues, location of implantation site, and type of immuno-deficient mice are possible factors responsible for successful engraftment;

2. Concomitant administration of estradiol pellets in the contralateral flank for SC transplants;

3. Compared to EOC, the take rate of nonepithelial ovarian cancer seemed to be higher

Head and neck cancer

1. Biopsy showed a significantly higher engraftment rate compared to surgical resection;

2. Metastatic sites showed a significantly higher engraftment rate compared to primary sites;

3. HPV positivity tends to show a low engraftment rate;

4. Outgrowth of EBV + lymphomas is a potential barrier to durable engraftment of HPV + HNSCCs

Glioblastoma

The success rate was lower than other tumors

Prostate cancer

1. Prostate cancer xenografts are prone to be outgrown by early EBV-positive lymphomas;

2. To establish a PC PDX-IM, the most critical step is access to tissues of good quality and viability

Melanoma

The success rate of PDX-IM has significant bias toward BRAF, TP53 mutations and CDKN2A loss

Renal cell carcinoma

1. Higher stage, grade, and sarcomatoid differentiation were among the parameters that favor engraftment;

2. The correlation between stable engraftment in mice and poor survival;

3. The viability and stability of using biopsy tissue to generate xenograft models

Cervical Cancer

Ervical dysplasia and normal cervical tissue can generate microscopic tissues in the PDX-IM model

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

PDX-IM models of MPM can be derived from all histologically subtypes and from small biopsy specimens