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Last Updated: 12/31/2019

NCI-funded PDX Network Coordinates Pre-clinical Testing of Therapeutic Targets in Patient-derived Models

In 2017, NCI provided funding in precision medicine oncology to five U.S. research institutions to develop and utilize patient-derived models (RFA-CA-17-003 and RFA-CA-17-004) for cancer research. These grants, which are part of the Cancer Moonshot℠, fund a network of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) laboratory research units and a PDX coordinating center that comprise the PDX Development and Trial Centers Research Network (PDXNet) External Link . In 2018, two new Minority-PDX Development and Trial Centers were added to PDXNet (RFA-CA-17-032), with an additional focus on developing models from racial/ethnically diverse populations and conducting disparities research.

PDXNet Goals

  • Coordinate collaborative, large-scale development and pre-clinical testing of targeted therapeutic agents in patient-derived models to advance the vision of cancer precision medicine
  • Develop new PDX models and methods for preclinical testing of single agents and drug combinations
  • Conduct studies of response of PDX models to novel therapeutic strategies using the newly established models, as well as other existing well-characterized PDX models

PDXNet Strategies

  • Prioritize combinations of agents in the portfolio of NCI Investigational New Drugs, which are evaluated clinically in the NCI’s Experimental Therapeutic Clinical Trials Network
  • Collaborate with the NCI Patient-Derived Models Repository (PDMR) at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) in several areas related to the goals of the program, including the development of optimized standardized procedures and sharing of PDX models
  • Provide supplemental funding to non-PDXNet investigators to collaborate with PDXNet and use PDXNet resources
  • Collaborate with PDX Finder External Link , a comprehensive, open global catalogue of PDX models and their associated data across resources

PDXNet Structure

PDXNet Members

Activity Code PI(s) Grant Title Lead Institution
U54 Ramaswamy Govindan (contact);
Shunqiang Li;
Li Ding		 Washington University PDX Development and Trial Center Washington University
U54 Meenhard Herlyn Rational Approaches to Melanoma Therapy The Wistar Institute
U54 Jack Roth (contact);
Funda Meric-Bernstam		 University of Texas PDX Development and Trial Center University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
U54 Alana Welm (contact);
Bryan Welm;
Michael Lewis		 PDX Trial Center for Breast Cancer Therapy University of Utah
U54 Chong-Xian Pan (contact);
Luis Carvajal-Carmona;
Moon Chen		 University of California Minority Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) Development and Trial Center (UCaMP) to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities University of California-Davis
U54 Nicholas Mitsiades Minority PDX Development and Trial Center: Baylor College of Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center Collaboration on Mechanistic Studies to Dissect and Combat Health Disparities in Cancer Baylor College of Medicine
U24 Jeffrey Chuang (contact);
Brandi Davis-Dusenbery		 Data Coordination Center for PDX Net The Jackson Laboratory

For more information about PDXNet, contact Program Director Jeff Moscow, MD (jeffrey.moscow@nih.gov).