Endemic Burkitt lymphoma avatar mouse models for exploring inter-patient tumor variation and testing targeted therapies.

ABSTRACT: Endemic Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a childhood cancer in sub-Saharan Africa characterized by Epstein-Barr virus and malaria-associated aberrant B-cell activation and MYC chromosomal translocation. Survival rates hover at 50% after conventional chemotherapies; therefore, clinically relevant models are necessary to test additional therapies. Hence, we established five patient-derived BL tumor cell lines and corresponding NSG-BL avatar mouse models. Transcriptomics confirmed that our BL lines maintained fidelity from patient tumors to NSG-BL tumors. However, we found significant variation in tumor growth and survival among NSG-BL avatars and in Epstein-Barr virus protein expression patterns. We tested rituximab responsiveness and found one NSG-BL model exhibiting direct sensitivity, char

SUBMITTER: Saikumar Lakshmi P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9990458 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature