Whole-exome sequencing of 79 xenografts as a potential approach for the identification of genetic variants associated with sensitivity to cytotoxic anticancer drugs

PLoS One. 2020 Sep 28;15(9):e0239614. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239614. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Chemotherapy response remains unpredictable in most patients with cancer. In this study, we performed whole-exome sequencing of 79 cancer xenografts derived from human cancer tissues to identify genetic predictors of chemosensitivity to nine cytotoxic anticancer drugs. Xenografts were harvested from 12 organs with cancer and implanted into nude mice. The mice were exposed to one of nine cytotoxic anticancer drugs (5-fluorouracil, nimustine, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, mitomycin C, methotrexate, vincristine, and vinblastine) to assess the correlation between chemosensitivity response and variant allele frequency. We found 162 candidate variants that were possibly associated with chemosensitivity to one or more of the nine anticancer drugs (P < 0.01). In a subgroup analysis of breast and gastric cancer xenografts, 78 and 67 variants, respectively, were possibly associated with chemosensitivity. This approach may help to contribute to the development of personalized treatments that may allow for the prescription of optimal chemotherapy regimens among patients with cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Cytotoxins / pharmacology
  • Cytotoxins / therapeutic use*
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / drug effects*
  • Exome Sequencing
  • Genetic Variation*
  • Heterografts
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Nude
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Neoplasms / pathology
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays / methods*

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Cytotoxins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 16H06279 (PAGS) (CU and HZ). https://www.genome-sci.jp/e The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.