Establishment and characterization of testicular cancer patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models

Testicular cancer (TC) is the most common solid tumour in young men. While cisplatin-based chemotherapy is highly effective in TC patients, chemoresistance still accounts for 10% of disease-related deaths. Pre-clinical models that faithfully reflect patient tumours are needed to assist in target discovery and drug development. Tumour pieces from eight TC patients were subcutaneously implanted in NOD scid gamma (NSG) mice. Three patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of TC, including one chemoresistant model, were established containing yolk sac tumour and teratoma components. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on these TP53 wild type PDX tumours to assess the effects of passaging, showing high concordance of molecular features between passages.