Figure 5.

Generation process of PDX. Surgical specimen from a patient’s tumor (1) is divided into small pieces (2) and transplanted into an anesthetized immunocompromised mouse (3). Tumor growth takes 1 to 6 months (4). Once tumors are grown in F0 mice, xenografts are resected (5) and cut into small pieces (6). Parts of tumor tissues are analyzed for tumor characteristics, such as whole exome sequencing (WES), RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), and copy number variation (CNV) analysis. The remnant PDX tumor is stored in liquid nitrogen, or further transplanted into immunocompetent mice (7) for expansion. Conventionally, F2 or F3 PDX tumors are used for cancer biology study, such as drug sensitivity screening, identifying biomarkers, etc.