Development of Brain metastasis patient-derived Xenografts

In collaboration with breast oncologists and neurosurgeons at University of Colorado AMC, we have developed xenograft models derived from breast cancer brain metastases from all breast cancer subtypes. We have engineered a protocol for manipulation of gene expression in these PDXs, including expression of optical labels for in vivo tracking, which allow us to model spontaneous and experimental metastasis of these PDXs in vivo. We are combining these with our spontaneous and experimental metastasis models in transgenic mice, to mechanistically evaluate the interactions between cancer cells and specific cells within the brain microenvironment during metastatic progression.