Supported Research

Development and Characterization of FA-HNSCC PDX Models

2022 | Research Grant | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO

Amount Funded: $100,000

Laboratory models of FA head and neck cancer are lacking and represent a major barrier to identifying more effective treatments. We helped pioneer the creation of patient-derived xenografts (PDX) from head and neck cancers and have developed the first PDX from a head and neck cancer in a FA patient. Preliminary studies using this PDX demonstrate sensitivity to drugs that target genes that are amplified in the patient’s tumor. We propose to build on this exciting work to develop a collection of well-characterized PDXs from head and neck cancers in FA patients to guide precision medicine approaches for this lethal malignancy.