The lack of model systems has limited the preclinical testing of novel therapies for Wilms tumor (WT) patients who have poor outcomes. Herein, we established 45 heterotopic WT patient-derived xenografts (WTPDX) in CB17 scid-/- mice that capture the biological heterogeneity of Wilms tumor (WT). These WTPDX include 6 from patients with diffuse anaplasia, 9 from patients who later experienced disease relapse, and 13 from patients with bilateral disease. Early passage WTPDX showed enrichment of blastemal gene expression. Favorable histology WTPDX were chemosensitive, whereas unfavorable histology WTPDX were resistant to conventional chemotherapy with vincristine, actinomycin-D, and doxorubicin given singly or in combination. This WTPDX library is a unique scientific resource that retains the spectrum of biological heterogeneity present in WT and provides an essential tool to test novel targeted therapies in the era of precision medicine.

The lack of model systems has limited the preclinical testing of novel therapies for Wilms tumor (WT) patients who have poor outcomes. Herein, we established 45 heterotopic WT patient-derived xenografts (WTPDX) in CB17 scid-/- mice that capture the biological heterogeneity of Wilms tumor (WT). These WTPDX include 6 from patients with diffuse anaplasia, 9 from patients who later experienced disease relapse, and 13 from patients with bilateral disease. Early passage WTPDX showed enrichment of blastemal gene expression. Favorable histology WTPDX were chemosensitive, whereas unfavorable histology WTPDX were resistant to conventional chemotherapy with vincristine, actinomycin-D, and doxorubicin given singly or in combination. This WTPDX library is a unique scientific resource that retains the spectrum of biological heterogeneity present in WT and provides an essential tool to test novel targeted therapies in the era of precision medicine.

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