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Orthotopic-PDX Models: The Gold Standard in Precision Oncology

Precision oncology is a clinical approach that uses diverse strategies to select patient therapies independent of cancer type. It often starts with genetic sequencing—a way to identify mutations that may be driving an individual patient’s cancer, often used to narrow the field of potential therapies. But genetics alone cannot predict which drugs will—or will not—work for an individual patient, because a cancer’s behavior is inextricably connected to the biological environment in which it lives.

Science has long relied on mouse models to research human disease, and there is renewed interest in their application in precision medicine. Orthotopic Patient-Derived-Xenograft (O-PDX) models may be the most clinically relevant models for cancer research available today.

O-PDX models are created by engrafting human tumor tissue in the same anatomic location in immunocompromised mice. Unlike commonly used subcutaneous and cell-derived models, O-PDX models provide a more appropriate tumor microenvironment that better supports cancer's complex physiology, making them more clinically relevant and highly predictive of therapeutic response, recurrence and metastasis.

Dr. Jonathan Nakashima, Chief Scientific Officer at Certis Oncology Solutions, will present on the development and use of O-PDX models for precision oncology, bringing greater certainty to patient treatment decisions.

Join us for this webinar to learn how:

  • Precision oncology differs from traditional cancer treatment and the benefits of this approach.
  • O-PDX models differ from subcutaneous, cell-derived, and other murine research models.
  • Personalized pharmacology studies using O-PDX models can accurately inform patient treatment plans, provide reliable data about patient response (or non-response) to therapies, as well as predict cancer recurrence and drug resistance in patients.
  • Emerging applications of O-PDX models are being used in immuno-oncology, hematological cancer research, and oncological drug development.

Jonathan Nakashima, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer | Certis Oncology Solutions

Jonathan Nakashima, PhD, is Chief Scientific Officer at Certis Oncology Solutions. In this role, Dr. Nakashima oversees the development and implementation of the company’s translational oncology services, including patient-directed precision oncology studies. Under a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine fellowship, he received his doctorate in Medical and Molecular Pharmacology at UCLA, where he developed genetically engineered and patient-derived xenograft models to study cancers of the central and peripheral nervous systems. He completed his post-doctoral training in the UCLA Department of Neurobiology, where he received a Kirschstein National Research Service Award to study the cell-interactions in the brain tumor microenvironment.

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