ABSTRACT
Living tumors are of great scientific value for clinical medicine and basic research, especially for drug testing. An increasing number of drug tests fail due to the use of imperfect models. The aim of the present study was to develop a novel method combining vitrificationbased cryopreservation of tumor biopsies and precisioncut slice cultivation for the assessment of anticancer drug responses. Biological characteristics of rectal cancer liver metastasis biopsies could be retained by vitrificationbased cryopreservation. The patientderived xenograft models were successfully established using both fresh and warmed biopsy tissues. Precisioncut slicing provided a similar threedimensional architecture and heterogeneity to the original tumor. The positive drug responses in the xenograft model were consistent with those in precisioncut slice cultures in vitro. The present study demonstrated that live tumor biopsies could be preserved using vitrificationbased cryopreservation. The warmed tissues developed xenograft tumors, which were also useful for either in vivo or in vitro anticancer drug testing. Precisioncut slices derived from the warmed tissues provided an efficient tool to assess anticancer drug response in vitro.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use , Liver Neoplasms/drug therapy , Liver Neoplasms/pathology , Rectal Neoplasms/drug therapy , Rectal Neoplasms/pathology , Tissue Culture Techniques/methods , Animals , Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics , Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism , Biopsy , Cryopreservation , Female , Humans , Liver Neoplasms/secondary , Male , Mice , Middle Aged , Treatment Outcome , Vitrification , Xenograft Model Antitumor AssaysABSTRACT
Tumor tissue has great clinical and scientific value which relies highly on the proper preservation of primary materials. Conventional tumor tissue cryopreservation using slow-freezing method has yielded limited success, leading to significant cell loss and morphological damage. Here we report a standardized vitrification-based cryopreservation method, by which we have successfully vitrified and warmed 35 intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) tissues with up to 80% viability of the fresh tumor tissues. Cryopreserved ICC tissue could generate patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) with take rates of 68.2% compared to 72.7% using fresh tumor tissues. Histological and genetic analyses showed that no significant alterations in morphology and gene expression were introduced by this cryopreservation method. Our procedure may facilitate collection, long-time storage and propagation of cholangiocarcinoma or other tumor specimens for (pre)clinical studies of novel therapies or for basic research.