There are relatively few widely used models of prostate cancer compared to other common malignancies. This impedes translational prostate cancer research because the range of models does not reflect the diversity of disease seen in clinical practice. In response to this challenge, research laboratories around the world have been developing new patient-derived models of prostate cancer, including xenografts, organoids, and tumor explants.
In May 2023, we held a workshop at the Monash University Prato Campus for researchers with expertise in establishing and using a variety of patient-derived models of prostate cancer. This review summarizes our collective ideas on how patient-derived models are currently being used, the common challenges, and future opportunities for maximizing their usefulness in prostate cancer research.
An increasing number of patient-derived models for prostate cancer are being developed. Despite their individual limitations and varying success rates, these models are valuable resources for exploring new concepts in prostate cancer biology and for preclinical testing of potential treatments. Here we focus on the need for larger collections of models that represent the changing treatment landscape of prostate cancer, robust readouts for preclinical testing, improved in vitro culture conditions, and integration of the tumor microenvironment. Additional priorities include ensuring model reproducibility, standardization, and replication, and streamlining the exchange of models and data sets among research groups.
There are several opportunities to maximize the impact of patient-derived models on prostate cancer research. We must develop large, diverse and accessible cohorts of models and more sophisticated methods for emulating the intricacy of patient tumors. In this way, we can use the samples that are generously donated by patients to advance the outcomes of patients in the future.
The Prostate. 2024 Mar 07 [Epub ahead of print]
W Nathaniel Brennen, Clémentine Le Magnen, Sofia Karkampouna, Nicolas Anselmino, Nathalie Bock, Nicholas Choo, Ashlee K Clark, Ilsa M Coleman, Robin Dolgos, Alison M Ferguson, David L Goode, Marianna Krutihof-de Julio, Nora M Navone, Peter S Nelson, Edward O'Neill, Laura H Porter, Weranja Ranasinghe, Takuro Sunada, Elizabeth D Williams, Lisa M Butler, Eva Corey, Wytske M van Weerden, Renea A Taylor, Gail P Risbridger, Mitchell G Lawrence
Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA., Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland., Urology Research Laboratory, Department for BioMedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland., Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and the David H. Koch Center for Applied Research of Genitourinary Cancers, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA., School of Biomedical Sciences at Translational Research Institute, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD, Australia., Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute Cancer Program, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia., Division of Human Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, Washington, USA., Department for BioMedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland., Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia., Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK., Department of Urology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan., South Australian Immunogenomics Cancer Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia., Department of Urology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA., Department of Urology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.