Human Tissue Transgenic Cancer Model may Offer Significant Advance Toward Modeling Human Cancer
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AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. presented findings from its human-in-mouse (HIM) tissue transgenic cancer model system, in which AVEO has created invasive human tumors that develop over time in mice from primary human breast tissue. This model enables scientists to generate and study in vivo, human tumor initiation, progression and treatment in a preclinical model.
This model was presented in a session entitled “Mouse Models of Cancer 6: Signaling Mechanisms in Initiation, Progression and Therapeutics” at the 100th American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California.
“For decades, human cancer cell line-derived xenografts have been the in vivo models of choice for pre-clinical studies, and with a few notable exceptions, those xenograft models have not been predictive of human clinical efficacy,” said Tuan Ha-Ngoc, president and CEO of AVEO Pharmaceuticals.
“As a result, clinical development in oncology remains largely empirical, resulting in a greater than 90 percent failure rate and long development timelines with significant capital risk. We believe our HIM model represents the next generation in modeling that will ultimately revolutionize early clinical development,” Tuan said.
Murray O. Robinson, PhD, senior vice president of Translational Research at AVEO, added, “One issue with cell line xenografts is that the cell culture conditions for establishing cancer cell lines impart strong selection pressures that are different from those experienced by cells in an in vivo environment. Our proprietary models as part of the Human Response Prediction™ Platform provide a defined genetic context as well as an accurate tissue context in which to validate cancer gene candidates, determine their biological roles in various stages of cancer progression, and test targeted therapies directed against specific genetic lesions found in human breast cancers."
"We have been very encouraged by the similarity to human patients in both histological appearance and response to agents like Herceptin® (trastuzumab),” Robinson continued.
