Rubio-Manzanares Dorado, MercedesMarín Gómez, Luis MiguelAparicio Sánchez, DanielPereira Arenas, SheilaPraena-Fernández, Juan ManuelBorrero Martín, Juan JoseFarfán López, FranciscoGómez Bravo, Miguel ÁngelMuntané Relat, JordiPadillo Ruiz, Javier2023-01-252023-01-252018http://hdl.handle.net/10668/12166To assess the viability of orthotopic and heterotopic patient-derived pancreatic cancer xenografts implanted into nude mice. This study presents a prospective experimental analytical follow-up of the development of tumours in mice upon implantation of human pancreatic adenocarcinoma samples. Specimens were obtained surgically from patients with a pathological diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Tumour samples from pancreatic cancer patients were transplanted into nude mice in three different locations (intraperitoneal, subcutaneous and pancreatic). Histological analysis (haematoxylin-eosin and Masson's trichrome staining) and immunohistochemical assessment of apoptosis (TUNEL), proliferation (Ki-67), angiogenesis (CD31) and fibrogenesis (α-SMA) were performed. When a tumour xenograft reached the target size, it was re-implanted in a new nude mouse. Three sequential tumour xenograft generations were generated (F1, F2 and F3). The overall tumour engraftment rate was 61.1%. The subcutaneous model was most effective in terms of tissue growth (69.9%), followed by intraperitoneal (57.6%) and pancreatic (55%) models. Tumour development was faster in the subcutaneous model (17.7 ± 2.6 wk) compared with the pancreatic (23.1 ± 2.3 wk) and intraperitoneal (25.0 ± 2.7 wk) models (P = 0.064). There was a progressive increase in the tumour engraftment rate over successive generations for all three models (F1 28.1% vs F2 71.4% vs F3 80.9%, P In our experience, the faster development and greatest number of viable xenografts could make the subcutaneous model the best option for experimentation in pancreatic cancer.enAttribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/Animal modelImmunohistological analysisNude micePancreatic cancerPatient-derived xenograftAdenocarcinomaAgedAged, 80 and overAnimalsFemaleHumansMaleMiceMice, NudeMiddle AgedPancreasPancreatic NeoplasmsProspective StudiesTime FactorsTranslational Research, BiomedicalTransplantation, HeterologousXenograft Model Antitumor Assaysresearch article29467550open access10.3748/wjg.v24.i7.7942219-2840PMC5807938https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v24.i7.794https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5807938/pdf