TRACE-PDTX

TRACE, a multidisciplinary project focused on the development of Patient-Derived Xenografts (PDXs), was set up in 2012 within the KU Leuven and Leuven's Kanker institute to provide a more reliable and predictive in vivo oncology model for testing innovative treatment therapies, investigating new and existing pathways and define biomarkers.

TRACE is a robust platform with standardized procedures, strong quality control and a large network of collaborators, which resulted in the establishment of a viable and frozen biobank of more than 100 PDXs, a representative for 10 major human cancer types, including melanoma, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and uterine sarcomas. The models are developed by implanting fresh tissue from primary and metastatic tumors in the interscapular fat pad of immunodeficient host mice and they are all validated and extensively annotated. Moreover, patient’s clinical and demographic information, including patient treatment history and relevant genomic alterations, are available for all the PDXs. For a few selected models, data regarding targeted gene sequencing, copy number variation, transcriptional profiling and response to standard of care therapies are accessible as well. 

TRACE is a member of the EurOPDX Consortium. EurOPDX is supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the grant agreement No. 731105 EDIReX