Patient-Derived Xenograft Models for Leukemias

Patient-derived xenograft (PDX) modeling is a valuable tool for the study of leukemia pathogenesis, progression, and therapy response. Engraftment of human leukemia cells occurs following injection into the tail vein (or retro-orbital vein) of preconditioned immunocompromised mice. Injected mice are maintained in a sterile and supportive housing environment until leukemia engraftment is observed, at which time studies such as drug treatments or leukemia sampling can occur. Here, we outline a method for generating PDXs from Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patient samples using tail vein injection; however it can also be readily applied to T- and B- Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) samples.