Identifying biomarkers of breast cancer micrometastatic disease in bone marrow using a patient-derived xenograft mouse model.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) found in the bone marrow (BM) of patients with breast cancer portend a poor prognosis and are thought to be intermediaries in the metastatic process. To assess the clinical relevance of a mouse model for identifying possible prognostic and predictive biomarkers of these cells, we have employed patient-derived xenografts (PDX) for propagating and molecularly profiling human DTCs.

Methods

Previously developed mouse xenografts from five breast cancer patients were further passaged by implantation into NOD/SCID mouse mammary fat pads. BM was collected from long bones at early, serial passages and analyzed for human-specific gene expression by qRT-PCR as a surrogate biomarker for the detection of DTCs. Microarray-based gene expression an

SUBMITTER: Pillai SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5748947 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature