Isolation and Expansion of Pancreatic Cancer Cells for Molecular and Functional Analysis

Introduction: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer death, with a median survival of 6 months and a 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. Recent comprehensive molecular characterization of PDAC has revealed the genetic complexity of this disease (Waddell et al, Nature 2015). Because of the molecular and morphological tumor heterogeneity leading to dismal responses to chemotherapeutic approaches and diverse clinical outcomes, better and efficient strategies for personalized assays are urgently needed. While patient-derived xenotransplants (PDX) are an important and sophisti…