Bladder Cancer: Optimal Application of Preclinical Models to Suitable Translational Questions

Abstract

Bladder cancer is a paradigm of solid tumor malignancy, and despite increased understanding of the molecular biology of this disease, cure rates have not changed greatly for 20 years. Further progress is being slowed by poor accrual of patients to structured clinical trials. The use of preclinical models, and in particular bladder cancer xenografts and cell lines, may allow more rational design of clinical trials, provided that the experimental questions posed are within the capability of the respective models. With the availability of targeted therapeutic drugs for treating bladder cancer, these models may be useful for the design of drug combination regimens and optimal sequencing of reagents.

Establishing prostate cancer patient derived xenografts: Lessons learned from older studies

“…Also of relevance, it is noteworthy that we were able to apply a series of bladder cancer xenografts to the characterization of this disease , and were able to demonstrate the existence of a solid tumor stem cell , similarities between the human disease and xenografts , explore gene expression , and model the utility of novel therapies , further supporting the usefulness and relevance of this approach. Although our large survey of correlations between large groups of patients and banks of xenografts showed only limited clinical and translational correlations , focused tumor‐specific studies, with well‐defined questions and parameters of outcome can be used effectively to model the clinical scenario .…”