Development of a Patient-Derived Xenograft Model Using Brain Tumor Stem Cell Systems to Study Cancer

Patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models provide an excellent platform to understand cancer initiation and development in vivo. In the context of brain tumor initiating cells (BTICs), PDX models allow for characterization of tumor formation, growth, and recurrence, in a clinically relevant in vivo system. Here, we detail procedures to harvest, culture, characterize, and orthotopically inject human BTICs derived from patient samples.